Memoirs of a Supergirl
by Rubelle
Summary: After her best friend Barbara leaves her behind, Kara has a terrible accident, is suddenly thrown into a world of super heroes she never imagined. She has to learn how to quickly adapt to the changes, both physical and mental, that this new world provides. Elseworlds. Continuation of Memoirs of Heroines series.
1. Chapter 1

_Hi! Thank you so much for choosing to read this story! However, if this is the first of my stories that you stumbled upon, I highly suggest reading my Memoirs of a Batgirl. These stories are part of a long series of stories I intend on writing, so many of the details carry over. I hope you enjoy the story!_

The day it started really was just like any other: well, kinda.

I was in Metropolis for the weekend, visiting my very favorite Kent cousin, Clark, and his girlfriend Lois. I really loved Clark like a brother—we were both brought into the Kent family by their kindness: we were both adopted, which explained how I could be the perfect little blonde-haired, blue-eyed American sweet heart, and Clark could look be tall and imposing with black hair and steel-gray eyes, even though he was kinder than a teddy bear. My parents lived in GothamCity, which was only really a two-hour drive from Metropolis, so we made the trip to visit every so often.

My parents had done this on purpose of course; they could tell I hadn't been doing well since Babs left on her little soul-searching journey. I envied her a bit—I mean, c'mon! Who on earth finds a teacher willing to completely sponsor a world tour in under two weeks? It was ridiculous; but at the same time, I could tell she needed to get away.

"Kara?" she seemed so hesitant, for the very first time that night, like she was scared of hurting me.

"What's got your tongue?" I asked, taking another bite of ice cream. She had invited me out for sweets completely out of the blue, and had been terribly desperate for me to say yes.

"I—I…" She stared at her ice cream, suddenly ashamed.

"Spit it out, Babs. Your ice cream is melting."

"I'm leaving tomorrow."

I almost spit out my ice cream (ironic, right?) and it took me a minute of gasping to answer.

"Leaving where? How long? You're making it sound like it's gonna be a long time. Oh my god, nothing happened right? Cuz if something happened you need to tell me, I can take it, no matter what. And I'll still be here for you, one hundred per-"

"I can't tell you until you let me talk," she grinned.

"Right, right," I said, trying to tame my motor mouth, "Proceed."

"Well, I met this woman at one of the department's fundraisers the other day, and well, she's a—a—a teacher of sorts. She invited me to try out a program, I'll get to travel all over the world, all while still receiving a regular high school education."

"Babs, that sounds great," I said, confused as to why she would seem so ashamed.

"I know, right?" she said, but she sounded more like she needed reassurance, "Well, anyway, I'll start right away, which means I'll be leaving tomorrow."

"Ok," I said slowly, still confused as to why this was a problem.

"And I'll be gone for the next three years."

"What?" I dropped my spoon, "But that means you'll miss most of high school!"

"I know, I know," Barbara was suddenly completely apologetic, "I'm sorry Kara, but, but, I really need to get out of town for a while."

"What on earth could have happened to make you feel like you need to be thousands of miles away for the next three years?"

The way her face fell immediately upon hearing my question told me exactly who the culprit was.

"What did that asshat do to you now? I will go beat him up, I don't even care that his daddy's rich-"

"Adopted daddy," Barbara quietly corrected, as if she couldn't help it.

"Like I care! He acts enough like that billionaire for them to be related, and he clearly hurt you, so tell me right now what that ass did so that I have justification-"

"He informed me that I was no longer needed in his life and that it was time for me to leave, permanently."

Her voice was hard as a rock; I could practically feel just how broken her heart was. I pulled her into my arms, and she started crying, as I assume she had for the past few days. "Hush," I cooed, "Hush, honey. We always knew he was an idiot, but I honestly didn't think he was that bad."

"I don't understand!" she sobbed, "We've been best friends since we were six years old! He meant the world to me—did I really mean that little? How could he say that so easily?" She turned to meet my eyes, "How could he hurt me?"

"I don't know, honey," I admitted, feeling supremely awful, "I just don't know."

"Not only that, he said it in front of Bruce! And Bruce did nothing! I don't get it! Did those eight years mean nothing?"

I gave her a reassuring squeeze and leaned my head against hers.

"I don't know, Babs. People are so confusing sometimes…" I thought for a long hard moment, before I finally admitted, "Maybe that trip is just what you need."

"What?" Babs asked tearily.

"Whether he wants to apologize to you on Monday or just rub it in, you don't need to be at school. That trip will be good for you: you can get away and forget."

We sat in agreed silence for a moment, before I asked, "So what do I tell him if he asks?"

"Tell him that I'm gone," it was the first time I had heard her voice sound so flat, as if it was completely empty; it broke my heart a little, "Don't tell him where—I don't want to be harassed with his connections. Just…Just tell him I left."

So I might have to stand up to a Dick Grayson interrogation; peachy.

"Ok, c'mon," I said suddenly, standing up and pulling her with me.

"Where are we going?"

"To find Megan and Courtney; they would kill me if they ever found out I let you leave for three years without saying goodbye to them in person."

"I'll still call you guys, and email you."

"And that's just wonderful darling, but it still doesn't beat a person to person affair."

She smiled because she knew I was right.

That Monday, Dick came up to me as if everything was peachy-keen between us, "Hey Kara, where's Babs?"

"She left." I didn't even look up from my book.

"What do you mean?" Oh I just loved the confusion on his face.

"She's _gone_," I said, looking up from my book and with the most uninterested face I could manage, "She left yesterday."

"Where did she go?" Dick was becoming slightly more frantic.

I shrugged and turned back to my book, "She didn't tell me."

"Oh yea right," Dick snorted, "Like she wouldn't tell you something as vital as that. Aren't you her best girlfriend?" That was how Babs had always classified it: I was her best girlfriend and Dick was her best boyfriend. She refused to choose a favorite, even though I could tell that Dick had some experience and time up on me.

"Actually," I said, tilting my head to the side as if really thinking about it, "I think I'm just her best friend in general now. After your little declaration anyway,"

His face paled so beautifully.

"She told you?" he whispered, mostly in disbelief.

"Of course she did, dumbass. I'm her best friend, remember? I asked her why she felt the need to leave so suddenly, and it came out. And I hugged her while she cried out the dozens of pieces of her broken little heart—which was your doing, by the way."

I was really rubbing it in, but in my eyes, he fully deserved it.

"I'm looking for her because I want to apologize," he said, trying to regain himself, "How do I get in touch with her?"

"Well, I guess you could try email, but given her current disposition, she probably blocked your email address, but at the very least she'll probably ignore it."

"Why would she do that?"

"My god," I said, snapping my book shut and standing to meet him; I towered over the little runt—puberty hadn't found him yet, "Are you really that dense? You told her you didn't want her around anymore—you were her best friend for eight years and then you just end it that quickly? She was devoted to you, even with all the crap you've been giving her in the past year, she still loved you and considered you a friend. Good lord," I said, shaking my head and walking away, "How stupid are you?"

That night, when Babs called bright, bubbly and freshly awake, she regaled me with all the wonders of Athens and how amazing the sights were, and how in awe she was. She was always so descriptive, I could practically build an imaginary Athens around me.

"So," she asked finally, "How was the first day of high school?" She was clearly fishing for something else, and I was in no mood to beat around the bush.

"I rubbed Dick's face in the pile of crap he tried to throw you into."

"What?" She sounded surprised, "What happened?"

"He asked me where you went, and I explained that you had left, and he asked where and I said I had no clue, and when he said he didn't believe me because I was your best girlfriend, I corrected him, saying that I was probably just best friend in general after the way he treated you—which I'm guessing isn't far from the truth—and he said that he was trying to find a way to apologize and how should he contact you, and I said that I would try email, except that you probably would have blocked his address—which is a good idea, by the way—and when he asked why, I explained that he was a complete dumbass for not realizing how much he hurt you, and not seeing how terribly he has treated you for the past year, and how even through that crapstorm, you still considered him one of your best friends until he decided to end it. How far off was I?"

"Actually, I think you pretty much nailed it," Barbara sounded suitably impressed.

"Thank you," I said, faking a curtsey until I remembered she couldn't see it, "So should I worry about him taping my phone?"

"Well, it _sounds_ like he wants to apologize, but, I really can't be sure if he actually means it or if that was just following some admonishment from Alfred. I don't know—if he's really desperate, he might, but I don't think he'll go that far. On Friday he seemed happy enough to see me go…"

I could feel her slipping back into the memory, and I realized I needed to take action. "Hey! Stop thinking about it! Forget that idiot, even if that's the one thing you do on your trip—forget that blundering idiot and recreate yourself. That will be the best revenge—he won't know what hit him when you come home."

"Thanks Kara," I could hear the sincerity in her voice.

"No prob Babs," I smiled, happy to think that my best friend could get past it, "Now go enjoy Greece! You deserve it! And don't forget to call me if something exciting happens."

"Ok, talk to you later!"

After we hung up, I felt a weight drop on my shoulders: it was great that she had found an escape to help herself heal, but how was I going to make it in her absence?

My parents saw me deteriorating too, and that was how the ill-fated trip to Metropolis was born. Two weeks into school, Clark surprised me on a Thursday afternoon, when I came home from school. Just being in the same room seemed to help; I couldn't help but be unbelievably happy. My parents told me that they had excused me from school the next day, and that my clothes were already packed. It wasn't as exotic as Greece or Paris, where Babs had traveled next, but I couldn't care in the least; I felt like the luckiest girl in the world.

"So," Clark waited until we were comfortably on the highway before he broached the topic, "Uncle Fred and Aunt Edna are worried about you."

I sighed and propped my elbow on the window sill for a head rest, "Yea, I've just been a bit lonely lately. My best friend left to travel the world for three years, effectively leaving me alone."

"Why did she leave?" he asked, genuinely interested in my story. That was who Clark was—always genuine.

"Well," I started, knowing I could trust my cousin, even if he worked at a newspaper, "The public excuse is that it's an excellent opportunity to become well-traveled and maintain an excellent education, but really, she needed to get away from someone."

"Is she in trouble?"

"No, it's just," How much could I give away? I looked at Clark and knew I could give it all, "You see, Babs had two best friends, me and Dick Grayson." Clark stiffened ever so slightly, but I didn't really pay attention, "But she has always been closer to Dick; I never really cared before, because Barbara still always made it clear that she loved me too, but I mean, I could tell.

"Well, in the last year, Dick has become, well, a dick. He dates everything that moves except for Barbara, who I think would be his best bet, considering how close they were, and he started to become terribly cynical. Babs hated it, but she put up with it, because she firmly believed that the Dick she knew was still there, somewhere. Then a few weeks ago, he tore her heart into a thousand pieces when he straight out told her that he didn't want her around anymore. The next day, she decided to take the trip, and even though I can't blame her for wanting to get away—I encouraged her too, so that she wouldn't have to deal with him—but I miss her, a lot."

Clark reached over and put a hand on my shoulder.

"You were right," he said, "she probably needs that journey more than anything right now. Unfortunately, the most you can do is be a supportive friend, which can be incredibly difficult, and more than annoying at times." He looked over at me, "But if anyone can do it, I know it's you, Kara."

I felt myself warming from his praise. "Thanks Clark," I smiled, "I don't know how you do it, but you always make me feel better."

"That's what I'm here for Cuz," He grinned, then clicked a button on the dash that turned on the music. I recognized the piano right away, with its pounding staccato beats, and then the choir, until:

_Where are have all the good men gone, and where are all the gods?_

I belted out along with Bonnie, singing my troubles away with her, with Clark laughing all the way.

The only thing I wasn't completely ok with was Clark's apartment; well, not the interior, the interior was lovely, and extremely homely. The problem was it was on the top of a ten-story apartment complex.

I have a problem with heights, I always have, ever since I can remember. I don't remember much of my life before being adopted by the Kent's, but I remember being completely awestruck by their view of the city from their apartment, until I looked down. It was all they could do to calm me down, and I've had problems ever since. Similarly, Clark's view was amazing, but I didn't dare get too close.

"Ok," Clark said, "Put your stuff in your room, and be ready to leave in fifteen minutes."

"Where are we going?" I hauled bag into my room.

"You are getting a complete tour of the Daily Planet, courtesy of myself and Lois."

I felt my heart jump; I had always wanted to see where Clark worked, I had only been to his office once, and that had simply been on the ground floor.

"Clark that's amazing!"

"I thought it might cheer you up," he grinned, "Now come on, we leave in fifteen!"

"And this," Clark said, opening the door to what was probably the biggest office I had ever seen, "Is our editor-in-chief, Mr. White."

Behind the desk, a man in a suite much like Clark's sat, studying a computer. His brown hair was graying, and he was starting to lose the trim shape he had clearly had most of his life, but when he looked up at the introduction, I found he had a kind smile.

"Please," he said, laughing, "Call me Perry," He stood up and came around the desk to shake my hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Kara. Clark has told me so much about you."

"Mostly good, I hope," I said, trying not to seem to shy or excited.

"Of course!" Clark laughed, "I don't have a bad thing to say about my favorite cousin."

I smiled, mostly because I always loved to hear that he saw me as his favorite too. It was nice to know exactly where one stood with a person, especially someone you loved.

"Anyway, Clark, I wanted to talk to you about that story Lois wrote about Livewire."

The way he said it suggested made me think that Livewire was some sort of taboo. "What's Livewire?" I asked, curious.

"More like a who," Perry said, sighing as he leaned against his desk, "She used to be a popular radio personality, but a freak accident caused her to mutate to the point that she can now control electricity. Lois…"

"You called?" A bright voice asked, and I turned to see a tall, leggy woman with thick black hair walking into the office.

"Lois!" I cried, running to give her a hug.

"Kara!" she laughed spinning me in a hug, "Clark said you were staying the weekend! It's so good to see you, darling!"

As far as I was concerned, Lois was the best thing ever to happen to Clark; although Clark has always been my favorite cousin, it used to be almost impossible to bring him anywhere, he was so shy! But after he met Lois and began working with her, she pulled him out of his shell. She, however, was Superman's famous girlfriend, although Clark didn't seem to mind that much; I guess they were just good friends.

"Lois, about that article…" Perry began again, but Lois just rolled her eyes.

"I know, I know: Livewire's pissed," she shook her head, "she's just too arrogant to see the truth."

"That as it may be…" Perry started again, but this time, the voice that interrupted wasn't Lois's. It didn't belong to anyone in the room.

"You should know better than to play with electricity!" We all turned in horror to see Livewire floating outside the window. She stretched her hand forward, and huge glass window shattered. Clark grabbed Lois, who was closer to him, and they ducked behind a chair. Perry pushed me down below his huge desk so that we could both avoid the shards that flew through the room. Wind whipped through the office, as it was on one of the higher floors; my shoulder stung, and I don't quite remember being so afraid.

Livewire calmly stepped into the office, as if she was a queen surveying her kingdom. She turned the corner of the desk, and found me and Perry huddling behind it. Her face broke into a malicious grin, and before I knew what was happening, she had picked me up by the throat and walked back over to the window.

"Would you care for a demonstration?" She called, holding me out over the edge. I had my hands wrapped around her wrist, struggling to pull myself out, when I accidentally looked down.

The world fell away before me, and I felt my heart freeze.

"No, no, no, please! Please, put me back inside—please!"

"What's the matter, honey?" Livewire's voice was dripping with sarcasm, "Afraid of heights?"

"Y-yeh-yes," I stammered, trying to keep my eyes up; the ground was so far away, and I could fall at any moment.

She laughed at me, and I felt my hair begin to stand on end as electricity surrounded me, "Well then, for your sake, I would stay as still as possible. She let go of my throat, and the static carried me out, farther over the street. My shoulder burned, and I looked to see a piece of the window sticking out of my shoulder. The flow of electricity made my shoulder tense, and it started to push the glass out, slowly but surely, in a start-stop process I was sure would only make it worse.

"Now, dear little Lois," Livewire continued on her rant, "You're about to see what happens to people who drag my good name through the mud."

"She hasn't done a thing to you!" Lois declared, thoroughly angry, "She doesn't even live in Metropolis! She has no quarrel with you—let her go!"

"If you wish," Livewire grinned. With one final burst of static, the electric net disappeared, pulling out the glass as I dropped, freefalling towards the concrete.

My heart was in my throat to the point that I couldn't even scream.

_Fly_, my brain thought_ Fly out of this!_

But I just continued to fall, unable to stop myself. I prayed for it to be quick.

Two strong arms closed around me, and I stopped falling. I opened my eyes to find myself staring at a man with dark hair and worried gray eyes.

"Are you ok?" He asked, clearly concerned for me.

"Just don't let me look down," I said, "You know what I do when I look down, Clark.

I felt his arms stiffen around me, as he lifted me back up, somehow, transferring me to Perry's arms before he started fighting Livewire.

"She needs a hospital," He said simply, "If they can't find her blood type, tell them to use one of mine; it should started the healing faster."

"Right," Perry said, turning to business with military efficiency. "Don't worry," he whispered to me as he ran me to the elevator, Lois by his side, "you're safe now. I won't let Superman down."

_You mean Clark,_ I wanted to say, but I couldn't form the words. _Clark isn't Superman._


	2. Chapter 2: Side Effects

It's weird—you know?—the things you remember. I don't remember the ride to the hospital, I don't remember arriving, and I definitely don't remember the surgery. I don't remember them poking me with all manner of instruments, or needles. And I certainly don't remember the moment they decided to pump some of Superman's blood into me, hoping to both replace what I had lost, and encourage the growth of my own.

I remember green—bright, unavoidable green, and deep pain that reached to my bones and made me want to vomit. Lights danced outside; vibrant, pure red, and yellow like the sun, but each mutilated by that unending green light. And I was caught in it—unable to move, unable to grow, unable to scream. Then I was covered in bright, sky blue, and then deep black.

Then there was the beeping; slow and steady, but unavoidable. When I tried to move, wires and blankets held me in place, finally encouraging me to open my eyes.

I was in a bleached white room, and next to me, my mother and Lois slept soundly, although uncomfortably in the chairs provided by the hospital.

"Mom?" I croaked; _how long was I out?_

My mom stirred, as if she only half heard me.

"Mom," I tried again with a stronger voice. This time she stirred all the way, blinking around before her eyes finally landed on me.

"Oh Kara!" she cried, "Oh thank God!" She dove forward to hug me, but recoiled when she touched my shoulder.

"What?" I asked, "Is something wrong?" The beeps started to come faster, but my mom didn't blink an eye.

"Your shoulder, dear, I thought it might hurt when I brushed it."

"Why would it do that?"

My mom knit her eyes, and just that moment, Lois woke up.

"Hey Kara," she smiled, "Finally awake!"

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Oh, only about one day," Lois said, "You're doing remarkably well."

"Kara," my mom said, recapturing my attention, "How much do you remember—about the past few days?"

I felt my own eyebrows knit together as I thought about it. Suddenly, it all came rushing back.

"Oh my god," I reached up to feel my shoulder; touching the hospital gown wasn't enough. I pulled the gown away to see red stained gauze. I was in a state, I knew, because normally I would never have started tearing at the gauze, as if it was some sort of parasite. The doctors and nurses rushed in, trying to stop me, but they stopped when I pulled the white away to reveal flawless white skin.

"How is that possible?" One of the nurses whispered, completely in awe. The doctor carefully pulled away the rest of the gauze, and brushed his finger across the completely pure skin, as if I had simply covered the wound with make-up. He looked at the underside of the gauze to find the stitches that had apparently been in my shoulder in a perfect line down the center.

The only person who wasn't completely surprised was Lois.

"You gave her Kryptonian blood," she said, "It must have speeded up her body's natural healing."

The doctor tapped the skin, then pulled the gown back in place.

"I should have him give blood more often; if only we could get it out with regular needles." He sighed at the thought of being able to heal his worst trauma patients instantly, then turned to his team, "Well, it appears that even the muscle underneath is healed completely, but I want to make sure there aren't any other side effects of the Kryptonian blood, so let's keep you one more night, to be sure, and if everything's ok, we'll release you tomorrow."

"Wow," my mom said after the doctors left, "That's one week ahead of when you were supposed to be released."

"What day is it?"

"Currently?" Lois checked her watch, "Saturday."

"So only one day since I came to Metropolis?"

"Yep," My mom said.

"Wow, cool! Does that mean we can still go to the bowling alley tomorrow?"

My mom looked shocked, but Lois just started laughing.

Later on, after my parents and Lois had left for a refresher break, I was left with Clark to watch over me; he felt so guilty about the whole thing.

"Clark," I said, taking his hand after he had apologized for the fifteenth time, "Stop, would you? It's not your fault that Livewire chose that day to attack your office—you couldn't have known! I'm still not sure how you managed to save me though."

He looked completely shocked, and his eyes flicked over to the open door. "Kara, I wasn't the one who saved you—it was Superman. I was calling the police and evacuating the rest of the office."

I snorted; that was such a terrible lie. "Oh please, Clark, I know you better than that! Besides, don't you remember all the times I used to fall asleep at the reunions, and you would carry me back to the car after I got too big for my dad? I know your arms when I feel them."

Clark looked white as a ghost, but I wasn't really paying attention.

"That reminds me though," I said, just now thinking about it, "How did you do it? Cause I felt like I had fallen for quite a while."

Clark stood up suddenly, and shut the door. When he turned around, he looked like a weight had just dropped on his shoulders.

"What's wrong? Did I say something?"

"No, not exactly," he said, as if trying to choose his words carefully, "Look, Kara, I'm about to tell you something—something I _need_ for you to keep secret. Nobody can know, not even Lois."

He was starting to make me feel uncomfortable. At the foot of my bed, he pulled his tie free and unbuttoned his shirt. "Clark, what are you…" I stopped because under his shirt was another, this one blue, with a red and yellow 'S' in a pentagon, like a shield. I knew the shield belonged to Superman, as there were many shops in Metropolis that sold merchandise featuring the symbol, but some how, the figure had taken on new meaning. I sat up and traced the shape with my fingers.

_"But what is it?" I asked, turning to look at my Mom's gentle, smiling face. _

_"It's the Coat of Arms of the House of El," she said, guiding my little fingers as we traced it, "But it has taken on new meaning recently; now, it is a symbol of…"_

"Hope," I whispered, picking up where the memory left off, "a symbol of Hope."

Clark looked completely stunned. "Kara," he suddenly sounded dead serious, "Who told you that?"

"My mother," I whispered, and then my brain processed what I had said, "No, not my mother, not Edna; someone else told me, a long time ago."

Clark seemed to take this in with serious thought; I sat back down, mulling over the memory. What on earth caused me to just now remember that? I didn't remember anything until the month before I was officially adopted by the Kent's, when they came to the orphanage for the first time. I had never asked about my past because it had never mattered.

But the woman in my memory was my mother.

"Clark, _where_ is that a symbol of hope?"

Clark rebuttoned his shirt and re-knotted his tie, frowning in deep thought all the while. He sat down, put his fingers together and tapped them against his lips. "My shield was first shown to me by the recording my father sent with me, to explain my differences. The shield and its meaning are from Krypton."

A thought occurred to me. I carefully stood up, careful not to disturb the wires checking my heart rate. I checked to make sure that the bed wasn't attached to anything, before I put my hands underneath and lifted.

It was much lighter than I anticipated; it must have weighed around 700lbs, but it felt more like it was only 50lbs. I wasn't used to lifting 50lbs, mind you, but I still lifted it up about a foot off the ground.

Clark's eyes were huge. I set the bed gently back down, and climbed back in, before he finally found the words to speak.

"How is that possible? I know they gave you some of my blood, but can it really provide enough DNA to support kryptonian traits? It should wear off!"

But something told me that it wasn't nearly that simple. I pulled off the heart rate monitors that they had left on me and moved to the bathroom. Clark jumped up to calm down the team of nurses that rushed in at the angry sound the machine gave off, but I didn't care. I looked in the mirror, and before my eyes, the blue irises I had always known turned a shade of bright, violent green. I looked back at Clark, who was stunned to silence by the transformation.

"It looks like I am in desperate need of some answers."


	3. Chapter 3: Growth

_"Allura!" My father yelled, "Allura, bring her here, now!" _

_My mother picked me up, bundled in my favorite blanket, and carried me to where my father waited with an odd ship. "This ship will follow the path set by Jal's; soon she should be with Kal on Earth. She can help them find homes. Kara will help them make it." _

_He settled me in a small little seat, "Don't worry Kara, you'll be there soon."_

_The world around us shook, beginning to disintegrate. My mother kissed my forehead, "We love you Kara, remember that, sweetie. Say hi to Kal for us." _

_They closed the cockpit, and ran back. I watched through the glass as my father pressed buttons on his control panel, and my ship began to rattle as the engines grew to power. He pressed one last button, and I found myself pressed against my seat as my ship shot away; away from the only home I had ever known. _

I woke up, eyes focused on the hospital ceiling.

Clark had convinced the staff that the iris change was only a small side effect of the blood, and that nothing was up. We failed to mention that I could now lift 700lbs hospital beds like bags of flour.

It was still dark outside, and Clark and my mother—no, could I still call her that?—were fast asleep in the chairs. Thankfully, the staff had agreed that since I was doing well, I no longer needed the heart monitors full time, only if problems arose. I stood up and walked to the bathroom, eager to test what I could do.

In the mirror, my blue eyes stared at me again. After the doctors had left, Clark had suggested that they only changed when I utilized my kryptonian powers. He was still convinced that they were only temporary, caused by his blood in my veins. After my dream though, I wasn't so sure.

I splashed a bit of water on my face, dried it with a paper towel, and stepped back from the sink. How did Clark do it? Just think about flying? _Well_, I thought,_ just think about flying then. _

I closed my eyes and focused on the idea of floating off the ground. I opened my eyes, and found that I was still standing in front of the mirror.

_Ok, think harder_.

I pressed my eyes shut and thought, with all my power, about lifting off the ground. When I opened my eyes a moment later, I was still standing on the ground. I huffed, and closed my eyes one more time.

_What does flying feel like?_

I thought of when I fell out of the building. All I remembered was rushing wind and paralyzing fear.

_But that's not flying, is it? Flying means you're going up._

So I focused on that. I imagined wind wrapping around me, playing with my hair as it lifted with me, both of us free from the pull of gravity. It was an exhilarating idea, leaving a weightless feeling in the pit of my stomach.

My head bumped something hard. I opened my eyes to find myself floating at the ceiling. The shock of seeing myself four feet off the ground took its toll though, and I landed hard on the floor a moment later.

Outside the bathroom, I heard someone jump, and then footsteps leading to my door.

"Kara?" My mom asked, "Are you ok?"

I held my head, trying to count to three and let the pain melt away.

"Yea," I mumbled, "I just…tripped."

"Do you need any help?"

"No, no," I pulled myself up with the sink, "I've got it. I'll be out in a sec,"

Even I wouldn't have been satisfied with that answer if it had been one of my friends, but my mom accepted it and walked back to where she and Clark had been sleeping. I let out a breath, then looked in the mirror.

Bright green eyes stared back.

Clark had been right, it did only happen when I used my abilities. But I was starting to feel more and more like this wasn't a temporary thing. I righted myself and opened the door; my mother jumped a bit when she saw my eyes.

"You weren't joking," she murmured, "That's bright green."

"Yea," I agreed, staring at the 'sleeping' Clark. He appeared relaxed enough to be asleep, but I could see the slightest stiffness in his neck, holding his head in place so that he was holding it just above the pillow. His eyes were always steel-gray, and Superman had never been reported to have bright green eyes; so why me?

"Let's just hope they don't stay that way."

The only perks being in the hospital brought was that I was allowed a few extra days in Metropolis for psychological recovery before I was thrown back into school. I still got to visit all my favorite places, and I even got to keep my room at Clark's while my parents had their usual hotel room.

Even though I loved my parents, I couldn't be happier to have a reason to part from them each night. It was only then that I could practice.

I picked up my bed with one hand, finally able to really search for a necklace I had lost a few visits back. It came tumbling out of the mattress as Clark walked in with a cup of warm milk. He took in the image of me holding up a bed with surprising grace. The handle on the cup only cracked a little bit from his tense hold.

"You've really got to stop doing that," he said, placing the milk on the bedside table as I put the bed back into place, "I don't want you to get hurt if they suddenly dissipate while you're using them."

"About that," I said, sitting on the bed, "Did my parents ever talk to you about what happened to me before I came home from the orphanage?"

Clark frowned and sat down on the bed next to me. "If I recall correctly, you were found at the scene of a meteor strike. It would have happened around the time you were five or so. The meteor hit some low income housing on the outskirts of Gotham, and when the police arrived, you were in the wreckage. You were in the hospital recovering for weeks. When they finally managed to get a statement out of you, it simply said that your name was Kara and you knew your family to be dead. After that, you went to the orphanage, and a few months later, Aunt Edna and Uncle Fred adopted you. I only know because I overheard them talking with my parents the first time we came to visit you," he grinned, looking at my face.

I played with my necklace, staring at the green pendant. The green from my unconsciousness flashed before my eyes, and I let my head drop.

"I don't think that was it, Clark," I ran my thumb over my pendant, then looked up at the opposite wall. "When I was unconscious, I didn't see black, or white for that matter. I saw green—bright, unavoidable green that made me feel sick. Other colors showed up while I was in it, but they were always covered with green." I looked up at Clark, "Clark, I—I don't know what to think. I'm incredibly confused," I shook my head, "But I need definite answers, and I need to know how to use these powers while I have them. We can make some excuse for me to come for the weekends, you can teach me."

Clark frowned. "Kara, I don't know if it would be smart, especially if we don't know how long you'll have Kryptonian traits. It would be smarter to wait."

"Wait? Clark, these could last for a week, or they could last for a year! I'm not going to waste using them. At the very least, I could help you—I could use them while I have them to fight crime. Please Clark—let me try!"

Clark looked at me for a long moment. Then he took my hand in his, and looked me sadly in the eye. "No Kara, I can't do that, not in good conscience. I'm sorry."

Then he stood up and walked away, letting the loneliness fill me once again.

Weeks passed.

We were clear into October when she came.

I had been practicing my skills in secret, carefully making sure that no one could find me. I wanted to be ready; I planned on showing Clark that I would be able to fight, and that I could hold my own.

I had also started to design a costume. If growing up in Gotham had taught me anything, it was that superheroes needed costumes. I had people like Batman and Robin to look up to—and the short-lived Batgirl. I was terribly sad about that one: she had given me so much hope for when it came to the male-dominated Gotham hero crowd. She had served only one year before she disappeared into the night she came from.

Last time I was in Metropolis, I had purchased a particularly cute Super-shield tee, although I hardly ever wore it. Now, it finally had a use.

It was a white athletic themed t-shirt, white thick blue stripes on the sleeves, and the shield blazing brightly across the chest. I decided on an old pair of skinny jeans, a red jacket and red boots to go with it. I loved my get-up, and I could even fight in it (although, in retrospect, I probably should have considered that detail first). I practiced in an old warehouse that nobody used anymore. There had been an incident or something with the Batman a few weeks before, so there were still some marks on the walls and ground from the fight.

It inspired me every time I looked at it.

But surprisingly, I met her at school first.

It was early morning, and Megan and Courtney hadn't shown up yet. I was reclined on a tree, reading a book like I normally did, although nowadays, I just stared at the pages while my mind raced with thoughts about what I would do to train tonight. I had just decided that I would try bench-pressing the biggest piece of concrete I had accidentally thrown myself into the other night, when I realized there was someone standing in front of me.

I looked up to find a girl with thick blond hair and mischievous blue eyes, much like mine. She stood with a bag slung over her shoulder and one hand propped on her hip.

"You're Kara," she didn't ask, she knew.

"And you are?"

"Call me Cassie, I know Barbara."

Those three words stopped my thoughts in my tracks. I tapped the ground next to me, and Cassie sat down immediately, relaxing right into the spot next to me.

"How…?" I asked, but she picked it up for me.

"I met her when she was in Greece; she's traveling with my Aunt, so I traveled with them for a few weeks before I decided to split on my own. Babs suggested that I try a year or two in high school for the real American teenager experience—and she said that you would be able to help me adjust if I needed it."

"So you actually listened to her?"

"My Aunt provided me with the address I needed to be considered, and I've got a sort of…sponsor, if you will. He owed my Aunt a favor, so he agreed to be my temporary guardian." Her grin seemed absolutely devilish.

"Who?" I couldn't imagine who would owe Babs' tutor a favor.

"Bruce Wayne,"

I felt like a weight lifted from my body, and I felt myself smile. "Cassie, I do believe we can be great friends."

It was only when we were about to leave for the day that I realized she already knew Dick. I walked up to the town car with her, talking about the music differences between Europe and America, when I realized it was the same I had often walked Babs up to.

"Miss Kent," Alfred smiled as I approached, "How good to see you again! All is well, I hope?"

"Yea, I've been pretty good, how about you?"

"Well, I must say my day was considerably brightened upon receiving my first letter from Miss Gordon. We have an agreement that I not tell Master Richard." He explained when my shock apparently bled through, "As I'm sure you've heard, there was a disagreement between the young Masters and dear Barbara, but I have no quarrel with her, and thankfully, she knows that,"

"Who knows what?" Dick seemed incredibly bored as he walked up to the car; he looked me up and down with an apathetic look before he threw his bag in the car.

"Oh nothing, Master Richard," Alfred smiled, attracting Dick's sharp, interrogating stare. Taking his audience into account, however, he har-umphed and climbed into the car.

"You should have seen it when he realized I saw her in Greece," Cassie whispered, "I just about knocked him out when he wouldn't quit with the questions. Anyway, see you tomorrow?"

"Sure," I smiled, "I'm happy you're here Cassie,"

"So am I," she grinned.

She surprised me though—I didn't realize just how happy I would be until later on, at the warehouse.

I had finished bench-pressing the block a while ago, and then proceeded to break it into even smaller chunks with just one punch. It was clear that I was improving, but there was only one thing I couldn't get past.

"So," a voice asked, completely at ease, "Are you gonna actually fly at some point?"

I whirled around to see Cassie, of all people, leaned against the windowsill of one of the ceiling windows, chomping on an apple. She was wearing a black shirt with a slightly altered Wonder Woman logo, and red sweat pants with white stripes down the sides. Like her apparent idol, she had a lasso on her hip, and cuffs on her wrists.

"Cassie?" I was completely shocked.

"The only and only," she bowed, "But in this costume I prefer Wonder Girl."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously," she smiled, "I thought you would be used to it by now,"

I rubbed the bridge of my nose, "I really should start. What are you doing here?"

"Watching you, duh," she finished the last bite of her apple and tossed it out the window behind her, "Babs said you might not be in a good state, and asked me to keep an eye on you, although," she surveyed my makeshift costume, "given the logo you wear, and the clear power you possess, I'm not sure you need a babysitter."

"I don't!" I wanted to be angry, but I figured I could have very well worried Babs; I really hadn't been myself lately.

"Clearly," she said, dropping to take a seat, "So, are you gonna fly anytime soon?"

I felt the tension mount in my stomach.

I had started to fly in the hospital, yes, but each time since, when I tried to go above ten feet, my fear kicked in, and I ended up falling. I could hover just above the ground, and push myself forward at full speed, but I didn't dare go higher. I just couldn't get over my phobia.

"I have a bit of a problem with that," I muttered.

"Can you fly?"

"I—yes," I really didn't want to explain it.

"Ok then, fly up here, to me," she patted the spot next to her.

"It—it's more than that," I tried, "I…it's a long story."

"Ok," she said, "Come up here and tell me about it."

"I…" I could do that, I could fly up—I just couldn't look down. I closed my eyes and willed myself upward, toward Cassie. It felt so natural to fly—like it was a part of who I was. I heard a whistle, and looked up to see Cassie smiling.

"See?" she said, "No problem at all,"

I smiled, and landed easily on the sill next to her. But when I turned to sit down, I looked over the edge, and saw the ground several yards below. I let out a yell and stumbled backward, trying to escape the yawning void below me. "Woah!" Cassie yelled, grabbing my hand and pulling me in so that I leaned where she had. I kept my eyes glued shut, not willing to look either way.

"What was that about?" Cassie sounded somewhere between angry and deeply concerned. I slid down until I was sitting and pulled my legs to my chest.

"I-I-I'm af-fraid of he-ei-eights," I stuttered through my shuddering breaths, not willing to look up.

"How on Gaea does that make any sense? You're Supergirl—that's kinda one of your things,"

"I know, and I can't explain it, I've just always had a problem with heights—I can't look down on anything over ten feet tall. Everything falls to crap and I can't control myself. How on Earth am I supposed to be Supergirl if I can't fly?"

Cassie rubbed my shoulders, trying to calm me down. "Hey, hey," she said, surprisingly gentle, "It's ok, I'll help you. We'll figure this out, don't worry,"

"You're gonna help me?"

"Of course, I always help my friends,"

I finally opened my eyes to look at her, if only because I was surprised by her sentiment. "You've only known me for one day,"

"Honey," she said, turning to sit by me, "Where I come from, every woman you meet is your sister. I know it doesn't always work that way here, but what can I say?" she grinned, "Old habits die hard,"

I felt myself smile. So this was Babs' ultimate souvenir—a new friend to fill the gap. I wiped my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Good," Cassie smiled, "Now, let's get you flying,"


	4. Chapter 4: Proof

I spent months training with Cassie; it was well into May by the time I could finally hold my own against her in a fight without hurting her on accident. The only way we could get past my fear of heights was by reminding myself that I was in control, and I wouldn't fall if it didn't want to.

"You've got to remember it, Kara," Cassie drilled, "When you fly, you're in control—nothing can stop you."

And if anything, I was getting stronger. My eyes still turned green when I used my powers, something Cassie thought was awesome when it came to my secret identity.

"Just think about it! With those eyes, no one is gonna mistake you for a human—they'll all think you're more Kryptonian than your cousin!"

I found that, generally, my eyes remained green for about fifteen minutes after I put my powers to rest, before they turned blue again. Something about the shade of green bugged me though—it was wrong, and I knew that it shouldn't be happening. Clark's eyes didn't change when he was Superman, this was only me.

But, with those doubts aside, Cassie had decided one clear May night that it was time to apply the practice.

"Ok, we are done with this warehouse!" She said, after I had repositioned the last piece of broken concrete into its once proper place.

"What?" I asked, stepping back to survey my work.

"It's time for us to start taking down criminals," she said, "We are superheroes, after all—crime fighting is what we do."

I felt a knot form in my stomach, "But isn't Gotham the Bat's territory?"

Cassie snorted and crossed her arms, "Oh please, like he and Robin can cover _all_ of the crime in the city. We'll just go where they don't,"

For some reason, that didn't feel like a particularly smart idea, but at the same time, part of me wanted to go. I needed to test myself before I went back to Metropolis; if I was going to prove to Clark that I could help him, I had to prove it to Gotham first.

"Ok," I relented, "Where to?"

Five minutes later, we were on the top of the tallest building in Gotham—Wayne Enterprises. I already knew that if I even thought about looking down, I would start to lose my head so I kept my eyes out, checking the entire city.

"So what are we waiting for?"

"Don't worry," Cassie said, "You'll know it when you see it."

"Right now," a deep voice drifted in from behind us, "All I see are two girls who managed to get to the top of a secure building."

Cassie and I whipped around and found ourselves standing face to face with the Bat himself. Previously, I wondered why people found him so intimidating—now I could see clearly. Dressed head to toe in charcoal gray armor and surrounded by an inky black cape that appeared to be made up of actual shadows, and not to mention the fact that one could only see his strong jaw and deep set scowl would make anyone want to wet themselves. In that moment, I would have felt happier looking down.

And yet, beneath his mask, his eyes seemed to grow, like he was surprised by something.

"Cassie?" His deep voice disappeared, replaced by a stunned, fatherly tone, "What on earth do you think you're doing?"

"What I came here to do—you can't stop me, just like Di wouldn't let you stop-"

"Enough," he warned, and Cassie, although clearly frustrated, bit back her comment. "I agreed to act as your guardian while in Gotham, but you have no training in crime-fighting; you'll only get hurt."

That pissed Cassie off.

"I've told you a thousand times, I can handle myself just fine, thank you! As if that's not enough, tonight, I have Supergirl as back up!"

_Oh god_, I thought, _why on Earth did you pull me into this?_

I tried to smile weakly as I felt the eyes behind the mask land on me.

"Supergirl?" He asked, "I was not aware there _was_ a Supergirl."

His words stuck me a bit; I didn't realize how much they would sting.

"I'm a bit of a new feature," I explained, my voice still weak, "I haven't been around very long."

"How long have you been around?" He was digging, and clearly expected an answer. But Cassie jumped in for me.

"We met when I first moved here. She was training in secret, and I helped her out with some pointers. She's a tried and true Kryptonian, why else would she be wearing it?"

"I've met more than a few copycats in my time," Batman grumbled, "It would do you well to think that fact through before you go introducing yourself to anyone who can throw around a block of concrete."

"Wait a second," I finally had something else to focus on, "How did you know that?"

"Excuse me?"

"You said, 'anyone who can throw around a block of concrete'. I take special care every time I leave my warehouse to clean myself up—every inch—to make sure that my own parents don't ask questions. I've become an expert in removing concrete dust and residue from me; any trace I currently have on me wouldn't be visible from where you're standing." I started walking forward, and to my surprise, he took a bit of a step back, "I think you know more than you're letting on. I think you've been tracking Cassie since she got here, which, given your obvious relationship, wouldn't be that surprising of an idea. Which means that you've known exactly how long I've been training, with Cassie anyway; you already have an estimate of how long I've been around."

I stopped face to face with the Bat, "Don't pretend I'm not right,"

"You know," yet another voice appeared, and a moment later, a boy about my age, although slightly shorter, landed next to the Batman, "You've got to give her credit, B."

"Not now, Robin,"

"No," he said, "Now." He turned to me and extended his hand, "You were right on; I would know—I'm the one who's been collecting the intel. It's nice to finally meet you."

He sounded so familiar; I knew I had heard his voice before. I took his hand cautiously, for both the attempt at friendship and his familiarity put me off.

"It's ok," he said, sensing my discomfort, "One day we'll look back at this and laugh."

"Robin," Batman warned, "that's enough. Now, you two," he focused back on me and Cassie, "are to go home immediately. This city is too dangerous for two untrained teenagers to fly around doing what they please,"

"How about a wager then," I couldn't believe I was actually talking.

"I don't make wagers," He said.

"You'll make this one; if you win I'll give up my crime-fighting ways, but if I win, you'll let me be a superhero."

He was silent for a moment, taking it in.

"What is your wager?" he said finally.

"You're a detective, right? You like to have all the proof in front of you, just like Barbara's dad." If I had paid attention then, I would have noticed the way both he and the Boy Wonder stiffened ever so slightly at the mention of Babs, but I was far too preoccupied, "So that's all I'm offering."

"What is that exactly?"

"You don't think I can be a superhero, but I do: let me prove it."

It was one of the abandoned tenements on the lower east side; only squatters bothered with these husks, and even then, they didn't stay for long. Tonight, however, it appeared to have become the base of operations for some guy in a green jacket spinning a staff with a question mark on it. And Cassie and I were floating above it.

"Remember," a voice whispered in our ear, "This is only a reconnaissance mission; do not act unless absolutely necessary." Bruce had insisted on the two-way communicators, even though I was sure he and Robin were watching from nearby.

"I've met their alter-egos, haven't I?" I asked Cassie at one point. She just gave a half shrug.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out," was the only actual answer I got out of her. She had managed to give up my name without thinking, and yet she was keeping her mouth firmly shut on the two she didn't like. That was one strange sense of loyalty.

Slowly, Cassie and I lowered ourselves through an upstairs window, quietly hovering across the floor rather than risk giving our location away with an unaccounted noise. The door took a bit of encouragement to manipulate quietly, but we finally got it open enough to hear the goings on.

"Hurry up, will you?" a nasally voice demanded, "I need to get my computers back online as fast as possible!" All of the activity appeared to be taking place below us, so after a moment, I hovered out into the hallway and peered down the staircase. Of the five floors, it appeared that most of the activity was taking place on the third floor. I turned back to Cassie and motioned for her to follow me.

"Kara," she hissed, "What are you doing?"

"Getting information! C'mon!" I whispered back. She frowned pulled me back in the room.

"Kara, that's not how recon works."

"Cass," I held her shoulders, "Recon means getting information. I can tell you right now that all of the activity is happening two floors below us. We still have three flights of stairs before anyone can see us! Now c'mon—let's prove our worth."

I floated back out into the hall and down the stairs as carefully as I could. I knew the activity was still one more floor below us, but I couldn't be too careful. Once I was in a position where I could hear everything, I pulled out the recorder that the Bat had given us and clicked the button to play.

"Finally!" Something thumped heavily on the floor to punctuate the word, "I can get back to work!" Something creaked and I could hear fingers on a keyboard. "How many pawns does it take to kill the Batman? Clearly it will take a multitude of enemies to overcome him—but that won't be enough to end him."

He was typing quickly now, and mumbling all the while; we had no clue what he was looking at though.

It wouldn't be enough.

I turned to Cassie, and she quickly read my thoughts through my expression.

"No," she breathed, "we can't."

"I'll go first," I replied; I kept low against the wall as I hovered down the next flight and carefully turned the corner. I could see several goonies now, and they were all positioned neatly around the entrance to another room; I could see the light from the computer filtering through, but the actual computer was still out of reach.

That wasn't enough.

"Kara," It was Bats in my ear now, "This is a reconnaissance mission—we don't need them to flee."

I frowned and looked up; there was still the floor above. Suddenly, it clicked. I floated back up the stairs to the fourth floor, and quickly located the room directly above the Riddler.

"Kara, do you have X-Ray vision?" Batman asked.

"What?" I asked back, "Why would I have X-Ray vision?"

I heard a heavy sigh through the comm. link, "Nevermind, do you have heat vision?"

"Where are you getting these ideas?" I had never even heard of heat vision before. Another loud sigh followed my question.

"What superpowers are you aware of?" He asked, only slightly sarcastic.

"I can lift almost two tons; I can fly when I'm not focusing on heights…" I really did only have a small list.

"Kara," Cassie put her hand on my shoulder, "imagine heat building in your eyes." I closed my eyes and focused my energy towards my eyes. "Let it build," she whispered, and I did as she suggested, letting the new found heat build. "Now," she said, as if this was brain surgery, "Open your eyes, but keep the heat in your eyes." I opened my eyelids slowly, unable to see anything, concentrating on holding back the immense heat that had built up. "Now, very slowly let the heat out, bit by bit, focusing on the wood in front of you."

I could feel it, almost like a tiny stream of water, trickling from my eyes and into the air in front of me. It was painful, like fiery tears, but I didn't want to stop—I kept trying to push it out as slowly as I could.

"Something's wrong," Cassie said suddenly, "Cool the heat, Kara."

I closed my eyes, and just like that, the heat was gone. I opened them again to look at Cassie. "What happened?"

"I'll explain later," she whispered, "I left my recorder down the stairs, let's get it and go. This is a bust," she said the last sentence to both me and Batman.

"Agreed," Bats grumbled, "You two get out of there."

I felt my heart sink; my chance to prove myself had just flown out the window. Cassie went to get her recorder, but I stayed still for a moment, taking in my failure. Strength, flight, and speed weren't enough—I needed more.

Cassie and I met back up with Bats and Boy Wonder on a rooftop a little ways away. We handed back our useless recorders, and I waited silently for Bats to bring up my lost bet.

"What happened?" He asked instead, looking at Cassie instead of me.

"Her eyes didn't turn red, just really bright green," she answered, "Then it started to flow out a bit—like tears. When it hit the ground, it just dissipated, but where it touched Kara's skin, it…"

"It what?" I put my fingers up to my eyes, where the tears had fallen.

"It looked like it was burning you, or something. I saw the way you cringed when it touched you, and I knew something was wrong." She looked almost embarrassed, like she had done something wrong.

Batman's scowl deepened a little bit, but he didn't actually move for a few minutes. I was still waiting to hear that I had lost, and therefore had to put away my short-lived dream forever.

"You need to go see Superman."

His words caught me off guard. "What?"

"Something is wrong, and only another Kryptonian will be able to tell for sure. You need to go see him, Kara. That's the only way you'll be able to fully become Supergirl."

I felt like dropping to my knees.

"But, the bet…"

"You didn't fail, our position failed; there was no way for you to get the information without showing yourself. I don't believe in setting people up to fail."

His scowl lessened ever so slightly, and I suddenly believed that that was the closest I would ever get to seeing him smile. He extended his hand, and when I took it, I felt him press a paper inside my palm.

"However, if you do not receive proper training from him, I will not let you 'save' the city. I need to know that the people protecting Gotham know what they're doing."

"Yes sir,"

"Same goes for you, Cassie,"

"What?" She was outraged, "But I know what I'm doing!"

"You think you do, but I'll be the judge. You will continue training with me until which time as I find you fit for duty."

"I am not wearing a bat suit—I'm not taking her place."

It was Robin's turn to get angry.

"No one," his whisper was deadly in its sobriety, "No one can ever take her place."

Clearly I had missed a major detail, but I had a very strong feeling that I wouldn't figure it out anytime soon, nor would they tell me. Batman, Robin and Cassie disappeared into the night, and I got my first look at the paper he pressed into my hand.

_If you don't tell Clark within the week, I will. _

I felt my blood freeze in my veins.


	5. Chapter 5: Complications

It had been a few months since I had last seen Clark. He had come around at Christmas, but he hadn't been able to stay that long. "Something's come up—at work," he said, not daring to meet my eyes, "I'm sorry, I have to go." Clark wasn't able to make it back before his vacation was up, and in that time Superman had taken down a coalition of villains who had decided to attack Metropolis while Superman was on holiday. My dad was going into town on business anyway, so he was fine taking me into the city and dropping me off at Clark's for Memorial Day weekend. The only thing my dad didn't know was that Clark didn't know I was coming.

When I got to his apartment, I waited for my dad to turn the corner before I floated up to the balcony of Clark's apartment. He always left it unlocked as, in his words, "Who on earth would be so desperate to break in to my apartment that they would risk using the balcony?"

Evidently, he hadn't seen me coming. He was still at work when I got in, so I made myself at home and started cooking dinner. I knew he would appreciate my mom's famous curry, so I decided to make that. He somehow had all of the needed ingredients, and I had about an hour to kill before he got home, so I got started.

An hour later, on the dot, I put the finishing touches on the two plates of curry, and Clark opened the door. Literally a millisecond later, he was behind me, hand up, ready to knock me out; I caught his fist and gently pushed him backwards, as easily as I could—even with my strength, he barely moved.

"Hi Cuz," I smiled weakly, "I thought we should talk, so I made curry."

"How did you get in here?" He asked, thoroughly shocked to see me.

"I…uh…flew?"

"You did what?" He sounded more shell-shocked than angry, thankfully. I motioned to the chair with his plate of curry.

"Like I said, I think we should talk. Have a seat,"

He still seemed shocked, so I guided him to the chair, and pushed him down. I sat down opposite him, picked up my fork, and stared at him until he did the same. Still watching him, I took a bite of the curry and waiting until he did the same. As soon as he took his first bite, a bit of the color returned, and he kept eating.

"So," I started, "You still remember what happened last time,"

"How could I forget?" his laugh was empty.

"I still have them Clark—I can fly, I can lift almost anything I put my mind to, and I can run, fast,"

"Kara," he started, but I cut him off.

"And I met Wondergirl, and Batman and Robin. I've been training with Wondergirl for the past six months, Clark: I've only gotten stronger."

"Kara, I still don't think…"

"Look," I said, cutting him off again, "If that was it, honestly, I wouldn't have come here. But, something happened, and you're the only one who can tell me what's going on."

He frowned, in confusion thankfully, and put down his fork.

"I'm all ears."

I dove into my story of what happened with Batman, and the heat vision problem. Clark was silent the entire time, taking in the information quietly. When I finished, he sat back, and crossed his arms.

"Show me," he said, and when he saw the slight fear that crossed my face, he smiled a little, "You said that the tears didn't actually do anything when they hit something other than you. Show me."

I closed my eyes, took in a deep breath, and focused all the heat again. When I opened my eyes to darkness, like last time, Clark gasped again. I felt the tears burning down my cheeks again, and I heard and felt Clark stand up.

"Kara stop—release it now,"

I let my breath go with a start—Clark sounded extremely worried, a tone a rarely heard. The heat disappeared, and when I opened my eyes, Clark was staring at me, fear and shock coloring his face.

"Kara, listen to me, and listen carefully," he took my hands in his and I could practically feel the anxiety pulsing through him. "I don't know how, but your tears just showed the traits of Kryptonite. It burned your skin, clearly gave you pain, and it was an unnatural shade of green—I can't believe I didn't notice it sooner. It—it's like you have Kryptonite in your body, but I have no clue how it could have gotten there." After a moment of letting the idea sink in, Clark stood up. He went back to the kitchen, while I was left to let take in the thought that I was filled to a toxic substance. When he came back, he was holding two coffee mugs filled with some form of steaming liquid.

"Come on, the couch is far more comfortable."

I followed him to the couch, and accepted the mug when he handed it to me; it was warmed milk, probably containing honey as well. I took a sip, letting the sweet flavor wash away the sick taste in my mouth.

"Ok, now, what all have you practiced?"

"I…I can lift about two tons of concrete, I can puncture metal when I fly at it really fast, and I can fly at any speed."

"How far away can you hear?"

"Excuse me?"

"Right now, four floors below us, there is a couple arguing; what are they arguing about?"

I felt shocked, but I closed my eyes and—I don't know—reached out, with my ears. Below us, I could hear someone vacuuming, and another floor down what sounded like someone rearranging furniture. Around the loud, distracting noises, there were sounds of conversation, and the muted sound of arguing, but I couldn't actually hear words, just the tones.

"I can hear the vacuum," I said, "and the person changing their furniture, but I can't hear anything thing else clearly enough to be sure."

Clark hummed, then looked out the window behind me.

"In that large brown building, the one behind the two grey ones with the advertisements for the movies; there is a man on the twenty-fifth floor, fifth window from the right: what is he doing?"

I frowned but turned to look out the window anyway; I saw the building he was talking about, but it was incredibly far away. I pushed out with my eyes this time, trying to close in on the number of floors first. It took me a few minutes of counting carefully to get to the twenty-fifth floor, and then find the fifth window from the right, but the glass was simply opaque. I couldn't see anything.

"Sorry," I said, "Nothing."

Clark hummed again, then pointed towards his room. "There are three books on my bedside table, name them in order." I stood up, intent on going to find them, when Clark took my hand. "No, from here."

"Clark, there are walls in the way."

"I know, go ahead."

I frowned but looked towards his room, and pushed with my mind again. One wall seemed to disappear, allowing me to see the woodwork beneath before that became transparent as well. I looked through another wall, watching the first layer disappear again, showing the wood, but that was it—I couldn't go any farther.

"I can see through some of the walls, but I can't see that far away." I shrugged.

Clark nodded, then looked into his cup. I took another few gulps of my drink, a bit exhausted from trying so hard.

"Kara, if you had my full powers, those tasks should have been simple for you. I would attribute that to it simply being the side effects of the transfusion, but every time you tried to use those powers, your eyes became completely green, just like before. It's like something is in there—we need to get you checked out."

"Clark, I highly doubt that doctors are going to have the right technology."

Clark grimaced a little bit, and put his cup down.

"It depends on which doctors you talk to."

About an hour later, we were dressed in our Super-finest and flying far away from Metropolis. My super-speed was nothing compared to Clark's. He could fly circles around me, literally. Thankfully, he didn't push the speed issue. According to him, even at my speed, we would be there in no time.

I felt the trepidation before I actually saw the place. A compound of huge white buildings, surrounded by fence and guard towers, sat neatly in the middle of an otherwise unaltered desert. I could practically hear Clark frowning as we touched down outside the main gate, and found ourselves face to face with a line of armed guards.

"What do you want Supes?" One of the men asked in more of a warning tone, "We aren't afraid to shoot."

"I'm not here to fight," Clark said in his big voice, "I need to see Doctor Hamilton. There's someone I need him to meet."

After dozens of security checks, Clark and I were escorted down a maze of hallways until we arrived at a rather unassuming office. Inside, a man with a bushy, neatly-trimmed beard and thick glasses sat at a desk, pouring into several books. The head security guard coughed, and the man looked up.

"You have a visitor, Doctor."

"Oh," the man asked, seeming genuinely happy, "Who might that be?"

The security guard stepped aside to reveal Clark, standing tall and intimidating in the doorway of the tiny office. "S-superman? What on earth are you doing here?" the man asked, almost afraid, "I thought we agreed to disagree!"

"This isn't about that," Clark said, still reluctant, "I have someone for you to meet, and she has quite the story." Now Clark stepped to the side, motioning to me. I never wanted to hide more in my life. The Doctor's eyes locked on me, and it felt like he had the x-ray vision I was supposed to. After a long moment, and a critical frown, the Doctor dismissed the guards and invited us in, closing the door behind us.

"You have my attention," He said simply, "Explain."

Clark dove into a slightly abridged story of the incident with Livewire, about how I had been an innocent bystander, and I had been saved with some of Clark's blood. Then Clark explained that I had come to him now six-months later, showing manifested powers of my own.

"She explained to me that she was orphaned at a young age in a freak accident, and now that she has almost all of my powers, I wonder if, maybe, there isn't something more to it. Her powers are all a fraction of mine, but, well," Clark turned to me, "Show him what happens when you try to use heat vision."

"Superman—in here?" Hamilton was frantic.

"Don't worry," I mumbled, "I don't cause any damage, you'll see." I closed my eyes, focused on the heat, and opened my eyes to continued darkness, and pain dripping down my cheeks.

"My word," the doctor murmured, "That's the same shade as Kryptonite."

"Exactly," Clark said, placing a hand on my shoulder, signaling me to release the heat. "I don't know how, but it's almost as if she has Kryptonite _in_ her. I don't know of anyone else with the technology to figure out what is going on with her. Please, Dr. Hamilton," Dr. Hamilton seemed shocked by the sentiment, "You have to help her. We need to know."

"Lucky for you," Dr. Hamilton said after a moment, eyes still warily locked on me, "My curiosity is now completely hooked on this. I want to know about as much as you do. Come," he stood up, "Let's get to the lab; the sooner we start, the sooner we'll know."

A huge knot formed in my stomach as I followed Clark and Dr. Hamilton back down the winding halls. I had a terrible feeling.


	6. Chapter 6: A Brief History

"Extreme Kryptonite poisoning."

I couldn't grasp any emotion to that verdict, seeing as I had nearly no knowledge on the subject, but Clark certainly could.

"What?" he cried, "How is that possible?"

"I have no clue," Hamilton said, sitting back in his chair. We had been at S.T.A.R. Labs all weekend, running test after test, even attempting to flush my system, only to find that it had caused barely a dent in my problem. I could now see all the way through three walls, and I could now hear a conversation three floors above us, but I was still at a loss for heat vision, super-breath and speed anywhere near Clark's.

"Maybe there's a lot of it in Gotham? You know, in the ground or something?" I suggested, only to draw incredulous looks from both Clark and the doctor.

"The largest specimen of Kryptonite on Earth is the size of a text book," Hamilton answered, "Nowhere near enough to cause the sort of complications you display."

"As it is, that piece is locked away, hopefully indefinitely," Clark added, with a slight edge to his voice, "Any other pieces running around are no bigger than my fist."

"And there's nothing that can fix it? Nothing that can get it out of me?"

"We already tried dialysis," Hamilton sighed, "I'm not sure what else I can use! It is nearly impossible at this point to understand how exactly it got into you, and therefore I have no clear idea of how to get it out."

Clark and Hamilton continued to talk, but that was all I needed to hear.

I had no cure. I had no hope.

I needed to find my beginning.

I'm not gonna lie: that meeting really killed my spirit. I couldn't see myself fighting crime as only a half-Super girl. My little spurt of happiness was gone, with only Cassie in its wake.

"Kara, you can't stop just because of that," she told me half-way through July, when she had finally convinced me to go flying with her. I looked up to the empty skies of Gotham, still unable to look down.

"Cassie, if anyone comes who is even slightly stronger than me I'll get my ass handed to me. I don't have the same invulnerability as Superman, and I don't plan on waking up in a hospital again if I can help it."

"Ok, then learn karate!" Cassie seemed so desperate, "You can't put what you have to waste!"

"Why do you care so much?" I asked, tired of the topic.

"Look," she said, grabbing my shoulders, "Where I come from, girls literally rule. We stand by each other, growing and fighting for our sisterhood. Here, in the outside world, it's all men! The only women fighting crime in Gotham are Huntress and sometimes Catwoman, but those two fight purely for themselves. They constantly flirt with both B and R and it doesn't matter if they actually win, their fighting style belongs to thieves and thugs. But you—you, Kara, have the unique ability to fight for a team, even if the team isn't there. You fight for the right reasons—because you know you can make a difference."

I took her hands from my shoulders, and held them in my hands.

"Cass, before I can go back, I need to figure out how to fix me. To do that, I have to figure out how I got here, and what happened to me." I let go of her hands and stepped back, "So I'll figure it out, and if that leads to answers, then maybe I'll come back."

"If not? Kara, you're just as strong as I am—we can still fight."

"I…" I looked away, "I don't know."

Cassie refused to let it rest though; she knew I wouldn't listen to her arguments, so she sent someone else.

I woke up one night to the distinct feeling that someone was in my room. In the fog of sleep I forgot I had super-strength and picked up the baseball bat I always kept by my bed and slowly sat up.

"You won't need that, Kara,"

"Dick?" I recognized the voice immediately. But as soon as I said it, the lights flicked on, and I found Robin standing in my room.

"Not quite," he grinned, but even that smirk screamed Dick Grayson.

_Oh stop it_, a little voice in my head whispered, _like that idiot would ever be bold enough to become Robin._

"What do you want?" I put my baseball bat back. I could still take him if I needed to. His smirk disappeared, and he crossed his arms.

"Don't quit." He said simply, as if that was enough.

"I don't have much of a choice," I said, smoothing out my blanket, "I'll get my ass kicked; I can't do half the things I'm supposed to."

"So?" he asked, "I can't do half the things Superman can either—hell, I can't do most of the things Superman can do. But I can fight. I can solve crimes. I can take bad guys off the streets. You're stronger than me Kara; you could kick my ass without blinking an eye, if you wanted."

"Like now?" I grumbled.

"But," he ignored my suggestion, "I would still fight you, if I needed to. I would still do everything in my power—which can be surprisingly great—to keep this city, this country, this world safe. Because that's what needs to be done."

"Look, I know why Cassie wants me to keep going. She is one of my best friends, but what—on earth!—do you gain by having me keep fighting. Why care enough to sneak into my house and tell me?"

His face dropped to a grimace, and he turned away, not willing to look at me.

"Cassie was kind enough to remind me of a time not so long ago when I let someone else leave the business. She did everything right, but I never let her know. She was the best thing that ever happened to Gotham, and I let her leave without…" he trailed off, and beneath his mask, I saw him shut his eyes tight, with real remorse. Then he turned back around, and he fixed on me, ready to be done. "The point is, I made a mistake with her, and I'm not going to let it happen again. You have all the makings of a superhero, Kara: don't let one little detail take it away from you."

"Robin, as touching as that sentiment is, I can't. There are things I need to figure out first, things about me I need to know." I shook my head, "I just can't do it yet."

To my surprise, he smiled, "Cass said you might say that." He opened a pocket on his belt and handed me a USB drive, "This should help your search at least a little bit."

I took the drive, and he moved back to the window.

"So, do you ever expect her to come back?" I asked, catching his attention, "Batgirl, I'm assuming. Or did she retire for good?"

An empty smirk appeared on the hero's face.

"I never said she retired."

It took me a few days to finally pull up the courage to look at the contents of the chip. Something about Robin's behavior had spooked me. Probably the fact that he looked so much like Dick Grayson, and the parallels I could pull regarding that. But my curiosity was greater than that. Like Pandora before me, I couldn't resist.

The only file on the drive read "Kara Kent". Already, that bugged me. But I needed to know.

The file spanned about nine years from beginning to end. It started with a single newspaper article.

**_Freak Meteor Strikes Gotham_**

_ Early Wednesday morning, Gotham was hit with its strangest wake up call yet. Scientists have called this a rare case; this meteor came from deep space, and most of the time, this sort of debris would be caught up by one of the larger planets in our solar system. This meteor, however, managed to avoid all obstacles, and struck Earth at 4:34 AM. Unfortunately, unlike most debris strikes, this meteor managed to hit a populated area, destroying a section of Gotham's lower tenement buildings. Only one inhabitant of the buildings survived. A young girl, about five to six years old, whose name is being withheld until family can be reached, somehow managed to avoid the impact and fire that left the other sleeping inhabitants dead. _

_ Commissioner Loeb reported on the immediate arrival of GCPD and GCFD to the scene…_

That was only the beginning.

Several more articles followed, each building only slightly on the original base story of the impact. They built up slightly when, after a few days of cleaning the crash site, several workers reported signs of radiation poisoning, and then rapidly shut off after a report saying that the government, in conjunction with S.T.A.R. Labs had come in to properly clean up the site, and hopefully find the source of radiation.

A year later, the last article on the subject appeared, citing only that since the take over of investigations, no answers had surfaced.

After that, the content changed from newspaper articles to neatly typed reports, appearing to have been copied from S.T.A.R. Labs. I skimmed through the information until I found the conclusion:

_In conclusion, due to the large amount of kryptonite recovered at the site, as well as the significant amount of treated metal and what appears to be some kind of motor device, the meteor that struck Gotham City Lower Tenements on Wednesday, December 3__rd__, 19-, was actually an alien shuttle encased in kryptonite. The owner of the shuttle appears to have perished in the crash, along with everyone else in the buildings. S.T.A.R. Laboratories has acquired all pieces of kryptonite from the scene, and the radiation has been completely neutralized. _

I felt myself freeze. That made sense—it all made sense! The crash, why I was the only survivor—how all of the kryptonite got into me; it also made sense of the memory flashes I had experienced since the accident. If my parents really had lived elsewhere, they really had put me on a ship, and maybe, I really had crash landed here.

I could be an alien.

I could be Kryptonian.

I had to show Clark.

*POV Shift here, I don't know why it doesn't keep the line breaks I put in*

_ "Kara, this is Clark. I know you said you needed to see me, but I'm going to be away for a while. I promise we'll talk when I get back, and I'd love for you to watch my apartment if you would, but due to the…uh…nature of this business, I won't be there when you arrive. Don't worry, we'll have plenty of time to talk later. See you soon, hopefully. Bye."_

_*Here's another POV Shift, again, I don't know why it doesn't stay*_

_Diana put down the phone and frowned. I was instantly intrigued._

_"What is it, Sis?" I asked, pulling on my boots. We had just finished packing. _

_"A friend," she said, turning to me, "He needs us to watch his city for him." _

_"Who?" I was suddenly praying that she wouldn't say Gotham. _

_Diana crossed her arms, and gazed at me with her 'don't-argue' look. "Superman. Babs, we're going to Metropolis." _


	7. Chapter 7: Girl's Retreat

I could not believe it. I listened to my voicemail again.

"Hey Kara!" the upbeat voice I only ever heard on the phone now caught my hopes, "I'm gonna be in Metropolis next week! I know it's summer vacation, and your cuz lives there, so I was thinking maybe we could meet up! Bring Cassie too, but don't be too loud about it: she is staying with the Wayne's, after all. See you next week!"

Babs was going to be in Metropolis the same week I had Clark's apartment to myself. Could it be more perfect?

I dialed Cassie immediately.

"Hey Kara, what's up?" Cassie and I hadn't talked as much given recent events.

"Wanna come with me to Metropolis for a week? I'll be house-sitting for my cousin and I could use the company,"

She was silent for a moment, "What is this really about?"

"I have information regarding two fronts, neither of which I want to say knowing that you are currently in Wayne Manor."

That caught her curiosity like dangling a string in front of a cat.

"What time are you picking me up?"

I smiled; this week would be full of girl's nights, I just knew it.

"Seriously?" Cassie took in the apartment, "This is where your cousin lives?"

"Yep, ever since Clark moved to Metropolis, this is where he lived." I set my bag down in my room, and pulled down the sleeping bags Clark kept just in case.

"And we get to stay here for an entire week with no adults?"

"About that," I grinned, "There will be one adult."

"Who?" she asked, completely confused. Before I could answer, the doorbell rang. I smiled at Cassie's further confusion as I answered the door. Immediately, a blur of red hair tackled me in a hug.

"Oh Kara, I missed you so much!" Babs was somewhere between laughing and crying, "I can't believe that it's been a year already!"

It was almost exactly a year, actually. I hugged my best friend back, incredibly happy to see her again. A tall, strong woman walked in behind her, with long black hair and striking features.

"Diana, I presume?" I asked, holding my hand out. I had never actually met the teacher; the only information I had was what little stories Babs and Cass had provided.

"Wonderful to meet you, Kara," Diana smiled, completely and utterly genuine, "It's so lovely to finally meet you. I've heard stories from both Barbara and Cassie about your adventures. It sounds like you live to take care of your friends."

"I was adopted," I grinned, "Anybody and everybody could be family to me."

Diana seemed beyond satisfied with that answer.

"So, we have an entire week!" Babs said, clearly excited, "You're the Metropolis natural here, so, where do we start?"

I never felt so happy in my life.

"That was delicious!" Cassie sighed, leaning back with her soda. She had just finished her pizza, and Babs was leaning on the table, chewing thoughtfully on her straw.

"I've been coming here since I was eight," I laughed, "The quality has only ever gone up."

"That's for sure," Diana said, putting down her napkin and leaning back as well; I couldn't believe how casual she could be. The woman looked like a queen, yet here she was, in jeans and a t-shirt, relaxing after finishing a pizza in an out of the way pizza joint. She was amazing.

This was our third day in Metropolis, and I couldn't remember being happier. True to my prediction, we spent almost every minute together, except for Diana's one insistence at always having early nights. Even though I was bummed at first, Cassie gave me reason to be happy.

"C'mon!" She said after her aunt left the first night, "Let's suit up!"

I had told her about the information Robin had left with me, and she took that as a clear sign that I needed to keep working out.

"Look," she said, even now, sensing my hesitation, "Clearly, you're an alien, and clearly, you have some awesome superpowers. You need to use them! Hell, maybe you'll even get to see Superman again."

"But I didn't bring my costume for that reason." It was a poor attempt to shoot down her idea.

"So what?" It's nighttime, and it's not like anyone will recognize you here."

In the end, I had relented, and every night after Babs and Diana left, we went out, even if that only meant flying around for a few hours. It was exhilarating to be flying again.

I should have realized that it wouldn't stay that way.

As Diana set her soda back down, the table, no, the whole restaurant began shaking. We looked at each other, confused, until a huge _smash_ sounded outside. We looked up to see a huge, robotic foot pause neatly in the street before shifting and continuing on. I missed the look Cassie shared with Diana and Barbara, but I felt Cassie take my hand.

"It's time for round two, Kara," she whispered.

"No, no, I am not," Barbara and Diana had already run off to God only knew where, I assumed to find a good place to hide; I wanted nothing more than to join them. Cassie frowned.

"Kara, you have to keep trying!"

"No, Cassie, I don't; you go, if you feel like you need to, but, I…I'm staying here." The look of disappointment on her face almost made me change my mind. She dropped my hand and ran toward the robot, pulling off her jacket to reveal a red tank with a Wonder Woman logo on it. I could see her cuffs shining on her wrists, and her lasso wrapped around her waist. I ran out far enough into the street to see Cassie fly up to the face of the robot and deliver a punch that dented the metal.

It took me a moment to see the other two figures hovering around the robot, delivering attacks with the same style as Cassie. In spite of myself, I found my eyes automatically adjusting to see who the figures were. One had thick black hair held back by a tiara, and wielded a lasso similar to Cassie's—I recognized Wonder Woman immediately. But the girl next to her was slightly different. She had a thick mane of fiery red hair, and her eyes were covered with a mask similar to Robin's. She turned, and I saw a bright blue bird shield blazoned across the chest of her black body suit. But her face seemed far more familiar than that.

The same way Robin seemed familiar.

And it hit me—right then, after all that time, it finally connected. I was watching Diana, Cassie and _Barbara_ fight. _Barbara_, the police commissioner's _daughter_ was a vigilante, just like Batman and Robin, who I could now see was Bruce and Dick. All this time, my best friends were fighting crime, with less than what I had, and succeeding.

I ran over to a street vendor, and grabbed the same t-shirt I normally wore, with the Superman Shield. "How much?" I yelled over the screams around us.

"Just take it!" He yelled, running away as the foot landed next to us. I whipped off my plain t-shirt and pulled on the new one over my undershirt, then took off.

"Kara?" Barbara yelled, "What are you doing?"

We ducked to avoid a huge arm, and I felt myself smile.

"Exactly what I should have been doing,"

It was easy to take down the robot, with all of us working together. Once the Toyman was neatly tied up, the four of us collected our things from the restaurant, left the fare on the table and soared back off to Clark's apartment. It was only then, when we landed, that I was finally able to look at Barbara.

"I can't believe it," I said, shaking my head. She started to say something, probably along the lines of 'I'm sorry, I wanted to tell you, honest,' but I cut her off. "It took me this long to connect that you were a superhero. It's only been staring at me for months."

Barbara smiled, and Cassie laughed, "Seriously! I thought for sure you would have figured it out the first time we saw the Bat and Boy Blunder."

I smiled, but I noticed that Babs's smiled became somewhat fixed, before she ducked away to the bathroom to change. "So," I noted to Cassie, who was lounging on the couch next to her Aunt, "The night Dick hurt her feelings,"

"They were in costume," Diana filled in, eyes still closed, "And they as good as told me who she was under the mask. She had just managed to save them from a very painful death, and they ignored it."

I thought of when Dick had visited me as Robin, and the piece of a story he had alluded to. He felt real remorse, but when I reached out with my hearing to check on Babs, I could have sworn I could hear quiet crying.

"Also," Diana said, fixing me with a look, "Don't mention the word 'Robin'. She's still getting over it."

I nodded, "I only ever mention him when she asks; this doesn't change anything." Diana dipped her chin in acknowledgement, then looked me over.

"So, Superman really does have a cousin," a bit of a smile touched her lips, "I hear you're having some trouble with it though."

I sighed and sat down, kicking up my feet and rolling my head back in preparation. "Do you want the long version, or the short?"


	8. Chapter 8: Training Days

The rest of that week was incomparable; so naturally, it had to end in physical and emotional pain.

From Wednesday to Saturday, we spent our time training. Although Cassie had provided me some Amazon training, I found that Diana's tutelage was far more complete.

"Kara, when Cassie and Barbara fly at you this time, pick one of them to catch and throw her at the other one."

Taking her words to heart, when the two flew at me, I grabbed Barbara by her outstretched arms and spun her into Cassie. Both girls went flying into the padded wall behind us. "Excellent," Diana purred from where she stood below us, before tossing me two weights, "Now, attach those to your belt and do it again."

Somehow, she had enough connections to get us an afternoon alone in a fully operational gym. The minute we arrived, she had caught me in a weight harness, and as the day progressed, she tossed me more and more to attach. I was almost out of hooks.

The moment the weights were secured, Cassie and Barbara flew at me again.

"Girls, this time I expect recovery, if possible." Diana's instruction meant I would really have to go all out on Cassie and Barbara. I didn't want to break Barbara, so I decided to grab Cassie instead, hoping that her arms would hold up to my all out throw, and that she would at least cushion Barbara when they hit the padding. In that brief moment, the girls were almost on top of me, I flew forward to meet Barbara, then feinted and grabbed Cassie when she changed direction, using her momentum to spin her more easily and more powerfully into Barbara; at the last moment, however, Babs put her wrists together, and when she and Cassie collided, both rolled over themselves and stopped their flight to hover a few feet from the wall.

"Quick thinking, Barbara; I'm glad to see your reflexes are developing for Aegis—it will be one of your best defenses. Kara, that was an interesting ploy; it provided you with not only your own force, but Cassie's power as well. However, as you can see, it also gave Barbara time to utilize Aegis. You must be faster." She stood back and pointed to the ground, "One-hundred and fifty, all five, go,"

We hit the ground in push-up position, and started off lightning quick rounds of push-ups, sit-ups, scissor kicks, then sit-ups and push-ups again. This happened every ten minutes or so; before, when I would have been dieing in P.E. at the thought of so much exertion, now I reveled in it. Barbara had lived this for nearly ten months; Cassie had lived this for years—if they could do it without breaking down, so could I.

"Good," Diana judged when we were standing at near attention only a few moments later, then handed me two more weights, "Now we'll switch to hand to hand."

"Wasn't that what we were doing before?" I asked; I had been catching punches all day.

"In a manner of speaking, yes, but now we'll be on the ground." Before I could open my mouth, she handed each of us padding, "It is just as important to know how to fight on the ground; if an enemy grounds you, then you must still be able to fight."

"Most Amazons don't even fly," Cassie added, strapping on her helmet, "I'm still kinda new to the whole flight combat thing."

"Which is probably why Kara caught you so easily," Diana smiled, "Don't worry, Sister, we'll get you there." She put a hand on Babs's shoulder, "Barbara had the same problem."

"When I told Alfred that I was flying, he could hardly believe it," She grinned.

_I can only imagine what Dick and Bruce would think_, I thought to myself. I didn't dare say it out loud. I could still remember what happened when Cassie mentioned Dick; I couldn't have her going back there now.

"Ok," Diana said, "Cassie on this side, Kara on this side," I moved to stand where Diana motioned. "Now, we'll start with defending punches; Kara, hit Cassie as hard as you can."

"Where?" I asked.

"Anywhere," she smiled.

I shrugged and threw a punch at Cassie's stomach. In the blink of an eye, she had my wrist firmly locked in her hand and in the following moment, I was on my back, unsure if the stars I saw were from Cassie and Diana or my reeling brain.

"Did you catch that, Kara?" Diana asked calmly.

"Not quite," I said, rubbing my head.

"I suspected so. Barbara, take her spot, and when Cassie flips you, recover."

Cassie gave me a hand up while Barbara took my spot opposite her. Once I was standing comfortably by Diana, Barbara launched herself at Cassie, fist first. Even though they didn't slow down, when I actually fought to focus on their movements, it was like I was watching a high-speed camera feed. As Babs got close, Cassie's hand shot forward and closed around her wrist; Cassie stepped back, and pulled the hand holding Barbara to her stomach while twisting it up. Barbara twisted with her arm, but faster than Cassie was encouraging, so that instead of landing on her back, like I did, she landed on her feet, and pulled her captured arm down, pushing Cassie to the ground with it.

"Very good," Diana started, but Cassie was determined to win. Still holding Barbara's arm, she rolled away from her opponent, causing Babs to roll over with her, allowing Cassie the chance to straddle Babs in an attempt to pin her. Babs wouldn't have it either, however, and managed to rock back just before Cassie got over her, effectively pushing Cass off and allowing Babs the chance to lock her legs around her waist. Her secure hold let her accomplish the position Cassie had attempted. Cassie was stronger though; she caught Barbara's hands and wrenched the redhead off her waist, directing Babs's flight so that she landed facing opposite Cass. Cass pulled Barbara's arm behind her, then pulled ever so slightly more until Babs finally tapped out.

"Excellent work, girls!" Diana clapped, "You just gave Kara a lot to process though."

My mind was still reeling, taking in each of the exact movements, trying to calculate just how far I would have to take it if I was at full power.

"Well, Kara, if you think you're ready…" Her voice was suddenly drowned out by an ear-splitting tone. I cried out and grabbed my ears, stumbling backward into a stack of barbells.

I saw Babs yell something, and she was at my side a moment later; I could barely hear her yells above that unending beep. I had to go stop it, I had to shut it down—anything to get it out of my ears. I stood up, hand still firmly clamped, and shot out of the gym.

The noise was so loud, and so unchanging, I thought for sure that it would be impossible to find the source, at first. But when I started flying toward the Daily Planet, it became almost inexplicably louder. I flew toward it, and found that the beep was coming from the roof of the newspaper headquarters. I hovered above the globe, just able to see the two people standing on the roof.

One figure stood with her arms crossed staring out into the sky; I knew her long black hair in an instant; Lois Lane was waiting for my arrival. Next to her, a red-haired figure I had never met before stood with his hand on his watch; it was the source of the tone. I felt a hand on my shoulder; I turned to find Barbara, Cassie and Diana floating in full gear behind me. I pointed to the man on the roof. "Watch," I said, trying not to yell, seeing as they clearly couldn't hear what I heard, "Stop his watch!"

Cass and Babs looked confused, but Diana looked down to the roof, taking in the two figures waiting impatiently on the rooftop below. Diana nodded, and motioned for the two girls to follow her down. A moment later the blaring tone ceased, and I landed on the roof behind the globe, so that I could listen without them seeing me.

"…is Supergirl?" Lois asked, "I know she exists, we all saw her yesterday."

"How can you be sure it wasn't just me?" Cassie retorted, arms crossed, "I'm an out-of-towner."

"Oh please," Lois clearly wasn't in the mood for damage control, "For one, you're all 'out-of-towners', I shouldn't have seen any of you, and I shouldn't be seeing any of you, for that matter; secondly, there were two blondes, one of which clearly wore the same logo as Superman. While you're at it, tell me where he is."

"Superman is currently on League business," Wonder Woman answered, emotionless, "As for Supergirl, for all I know, she's on the other side of the world, trying to get away from that watch."

The boy—really, that's all he was, he looked almost my age—folded his shoulders forward and stuck his hands in his pockets. Lois scowled momentarily, clearly annoyed that her plan worked back on her. "Can you call her here?" she asked.

"Why should we?" I knew the tone in Babs's voice; it was the one I used to use when people used to mess with her. She was the protective one this time; how weird.

"Because she's never been in Metropolis before; no one has even heard of her before Wednesday. Rumors are running wild and we want to get the facts." Lois spoke through gritted teeth; she hated having to show her hand. Diana grimaced, feinting a sideways look, while Babs looked at me. I shook my head frantically; there was no way I could survive an interview without Clark.

Somehow, Babs passed the message to Diana by merely clenching her fist; Diana looked back at Lois and locked eyes with her.

"Wait until Superman returns. Supergirl is still finding her place here, I don't think she'll be comfortable doing an interview without him by her side."

Damn, Diana was good.

Lois ran a hand through her hair, clearly unhappy with the verdict. "Fine, we'll wait; but if someone else runs the story first, so help me,"

"You'll what," Babs answered, eyes narrowed, "Break up with Superman? Run another 'award-winning' article about how troublesome superheroes are? Try to turn the populous against us? Good luck! If there's one thing I know, it's that as long as evil has access to superhuman devices, it will use them, and the only ones who can stop it and ensure your lives are even moderately safe are the people like us. If you try to turn against the super heroes, the only thing you'll have are super villains."

Never, not once in my lifetime, had I ever heard such statements come from Barbara's mouth. She simply radiated truth; her eyes just dared Lois to fight her. "Fine," Lois finally snapped, clearly in a corner, "Come on, Jimmy,"

The sheepish boy quickly followed the frustrated Lois, uneager to anger his boss any more than my protectors had. Once Lois and Jimmy were safely gone, and I was certain they had gone down the stairs, I floated out from my hiding spot.

"We should have seen that coming," Diana frowned, "I didn't stop to think that you hadn't been in the news before yesterday."

"It's ok," I said, hugging myself and looking back at where Lois left, "More than anything, I'm worried about her finding out about my identity."

"Do you know her?" Diana asked.

"Uh," I said, "My cousin works with her; she was one of the people who stayed with me in the hospital."

Impossibly, Diana's frown deepened, "That does make it harder. At least we bought enough time for you to figure it out; you'll even have Superman back to make it easier." I tried to smile at the thought, but I had a feeling Clark would be just as resistant at the idea of an interview as I was.

"Ah well," a mischievous smile flickered across her lips, "In the meantime, we'll just keep up with your training," from her side, she magically produced another set of weights. I looked down and realized that I had flown out of the gym with my harness still on. "And you'll be carrying Babs."

I took a deep breath, then met Diana's gaze, "Bring it."

My in-depth training continued through to Sunday, which I was quite happy about; I'm not sure how fast muscle is supposed to develop, but with the level we had been working at since Thursday, I had developed some tone on my legs and arms. My strength had increased slightly as well. In those days, we had also ended up in the news a few more times, taking out several bank robbers, a few kidnappers, and even a group of terrorists. On Sunday, we were on our way to the gym, for we had determined that Diana and Babs wouldn't leave until Clark returned, and therefore we had no reason to take a day off, when I felt it.

It was an odd sort of rumble; I had the distinct feeling that it was announcing the arrival of something much worse. The four of us landed on the roof of a nearby skyscraper, and as the other three quickly changed into their costumes, I paused, with my shirt in my hands, staring out into the desert surrounding Metropolis. Only a few months ago, I had flown out there with Clark to find Dr. Hamilton and an answer to my powers. Now I stared out at the dirt, trying my hardest to stare into the heart of it; I was hoping to pick up any kind of movement that might tell me what was coming.

It moved faster than I could see. One moment, I recognized the white dot on the horizon, and the following moment, the sonic shockwave hit me as it blazed past, shattering windows and releasing a cacophony of car alarms. A pain-filled howl filled my ears, and I pushed myself up to try to find the source.

It, or rather, he was hovering in the middle of the airspace above Metropolis, with his hands clamped over his ears. I pulled my shirt on over my sports bra and flew towards him, suddenly sure that I had to. "Kara!" I heard Babs yell behind me, but for once, I ignored her call of warning. The creature, however, didn't; he turned in the direction of Barbara's voice, and I nearly fell out of the sky.

He was the spitting image of Clark.

No, I thought a moment later, he was a younger Clark, as if plucked from the high school pictures I had seen countless times on the walls of the Smallville house of my aunt and uncle. But this version's eyes were blood red with only black pupils; when his pained gaze landed on me, he quickly turned to anger. An equally red beam shot out of his eyes and hit my chest square on the Super shield. It sent me tumbling backwards and lit what remained of my shirt on fire; I didn't have time to worry about the fire, however, as the sudden blast of wind that accompanied my bizarre opponent's appearance eliminated the heat. His fist came at me faster than Cassie's or Barbara's, and yet I still managed to catch his fist; when I tried to send him flying, however, he remained perfectly static; instead, he pulled me to him and closed a hand around my throat.

"Stop!" I gasped, "Please…I'm…like…you!"

The young Clark yelled in anger and tightened his grasp on my throat; when I tried to pull out of his grasp, he started punching me, as if he was merely holding up his punching bag. Each blow drove home; I was beginning to believe that not even Clark was strong enough to hit as hard as this new Clark was hitting me. I saw a blur of black and red, and two lassos closed around his torso. An electric shock came from seemingly nowhere, causing both me and the monster to scream, before he let me go.

Suddenly, it was eight months ago, and I was falling out of the sky. Fear gripped what little of my mind I had left, but my throat was so crushed, I couldn't scream. I felt my body going limp, as if it believed that this end was better. My vision started to blur, and even when I felt my body jerk as someone grabbed my wrist to stop my descent, I only saw enough to register bright red hair.

"Babs," I croaked, "The desert…Dr. Hamilton…"

"Don't worry," She might have said, "I'll find him, I promise."

Barbara's P.O.V

I flew back up to Diana's level, cradling a broken and bleeding Kara in my arms. "Wonder Woman," I hated how long her name could be sometimes, but I didn't dare reveal anything now, not in the face of a possible android. Diana looked up, and her eyes grew large in shock.

"She said something about Dr. Hamilton," I yelled, "Do you know anything?"

Diana grimaced, but when the monster nearly pulled her lasso from her hands a moment later, she, for once, looked as though she was at a complete loss.

"Fly out to the desert, straight west," she cried, "He's at S.T.A.R. Labs. Don't you leave until he helps her—don't let him win."

"Trust me," I don't know if Diana heard me as I flew away, or if I was trying to talk to Kara, but I spoke nonetheless, "I'm not that easy; not anymore."


	9. Chapter 9: Doctors, Clones, and Phantoms

Barbara's P.O.V.

It had taken me thirty minutes to fly to the Labs, and another thirty to talk the guards into letting me through. The entire time, Kara hadn't stirred once. I could only imagine what was going through her brain; Cassie had filled me in on the troubles they had with Kara's fear of heights when they first started training. What she had gone through today had no doubt brought some of those fears to light.

I stood in an examination room, but I still held Kara in my arms. I knew better than to let her down without talking to Dr. Hamilton first. When he walked in, I could hardly believe that he was the right person at first. He seemed so unassuming as a balding, fifty-something man with thick glasses and a messy tie.

"Nightingale, I believe?" He started to extend a hand, then looked down to Kara, and I watched him pale slightly. "What happened to her?"

"A clone or android, or something; it looks like Superman, but it's wild. He did this to her in a matter of seconds."

"Oh lord," he murmured, "Oh why did she try?"

"For the same reason I did," I answered immediately, "Because she saw a place where she could help, and she decided that justice was worth the risk."

The man looked at me, taking me in. This was it—this was the moment that mattered. I knew that breaking in front of this man was the very last thing I could ever do. So I stayed strong, even though I was cradling the unresponsive body of my best friend in my arms.

Even though I had left my mentor and other best friend to fight a beast that not even a kryptonian could stand up to on their own.

Even though Superman was out of reach, and not even the 'invincible' Batman and Robin could hope to be of service.

Even though I felt completely alone.

The moment passed as the man straightened and motioned to the table. "How much do you know about your friend's case?"

"She has green kryptonite in her," I answered, "From the comet she arrived in." He nodded in approval to my answer as he checked Kara's eyes with a light he took from the wall. He pulled a stethoscope from a drawer and checked her heartbeat, or tried to, rather, as it took him a few times to find it.

"How much do you know about kryptonite?"

"It's the one thing that can weaken Superman, and I'm assuming Supergirl."

"Did you know there was more than one?"

I felt a twinge in my stomach, and part of me wondered if this was a good idea.

"For instance," he continued, and the knot in my stomach tightened, "Let me tell you about red kryptonite."

Kara's P.O.V.

_I was sitting at a dinner table laden with tons of food that I had never seen before; on either side of me was a person that seemed to have straight from my memories. On my left was a woman with long blonde hair and deep golden eyes, staring at me with kind concern; on my right was a tall, well-built man who appeared to be in his late forties, with graying blond hair and sparkling blue eyes. _

_"Mom?" I asked, "Dad?"_

_"You see?" The woman smiled, "I told you she remembered us." _

_"Hello, Kara," The man smiled as well, ignoring the woman's comment, "We're so happy to see you." _

_"Is this real?" I asked, "Am I really back on Krypton?"_

_Both of their smiled faltered slightly, and my mother looked down at the plate in front of her, "No, returning to Krypton is impossible now." _

_"This isn't Krypton," my father said, "But this isn't a dream either. We are in the Phantom Zone, and your mind has led you here." _

_"Does that mean I won't wake up?" _

_My mother placed her hand on mine, and met my eyes. "As we speak, your body is on its way to being mended. Your best friend is watching over the progress. Your mind wandered here because it recognized the connection it held to us. While we wait for the healing to complete, however, there are some things we need to explain to you."_

_"We sent you away when you were six years old, just moments before the red sun Krypton orbited exploded. At the same moment, we were thrown into the Phantom Zone, and your rocket was encased in Kryptonite. The rocket kept its originally trajectory, and despite the kryptonite casing, the speed increased; however the casing slowly disintegrated the protective shield of the rocket." _

_I started to feel an itch behind my eyes; I rubbed my eye and refocused on my parents' words. _

_"During your sixteen year journey, the kryptonite held you in a suspended state, preventing your age and the element began to fill your body; your memories were suppressed as were your natural kryptonian abilities. For the most part, your kryptonite prison, and the cause of your poisoning was green kryptonite, the most common form of the stone." _

_The itch was growing harder and harder to ignore. _

_"The casing, however, held another form of kryptonite—a form so rare that even kryptonians were not fully aware of its existence. The scientists that combed through the wreck of your rocket, however, found it. When processed, this form is known as red kryptonite; it causes our kryptonian abilities to grow ten-fold, but depending on what time of sunlight we are processing, this could lead to extreme pain and madness."_

_The itch was burning now, spreading throughout my body; and yet I fought to focus on their words. I had to hear the last of it, I knew I did._

_"Most importantly, red kryptonite negates the effects of green kryptonite."_

_The burning was too much now. I cried out and fell to the floor, tearing at my skin. My parents were at my side in an instant, and my mother took my hand._

_"Kara, Kara listen to me." She spoke quickly, as if she was fully aware how little time she had left, "once you are healed, there will be nothing that can hold you back. Fight for the justice your old world so desperately needed." _

_The dining room and the table started flickering away, as if they were part of an image superimposed on another. "Kara, your mother and I love you very much, and we are so happy you found your cousin." My father stroked my hair back, "but more than anything, remember, you must remember, all kryptonians are your family now, clones are no exception." _

_"Clones?" That seemed so out of place._

_"Ease his pain the same way you are being healed, and you will have not only a new cousin, but a new ally in your quest." _

_The entire room flickered away, revealing a doctor's office, and a man and young woman standing over me. A moment later, the Kryptonian room appeared again, although it was somewhat transparent._

_"We love you, dear." My mom's blonde hair slowly became red, and my father's full head of hair disappeared. _

_I suddenly recognized Babs and Dr. Hamilton above me. Both of them held violently bright red rocks. I felt as though my skin was about to burst. _

_"Leave!" I cried, and I watched as Dr. Hamilton dropped his chunk and grabbed Barbara, pulling her out a door the same moment the red kryptonite touched my skin. I screamed as the heat tore through me, hungrily devouring everything that held me back. I could feel the burst of energy leave my body, and destroy the room around me. _

_But my transformation wasn't complete; right when I thought I had a moment to breathe, I felt something in me crack, as if I was splitting in half. I cried out as something pulled those pieces apart._

_Right as it should have broken away, one of the halves seemed to disappear; the entire sensation of being broken in two disappeared, and I felt oddly perfect. _

_Exhaustion took hold, and my head rolled to the side. On the table next to mine was another blonde girl; as my eyes became heavy, hers evidently lightened. Her blue eyes followed me into unconsciousness, reminding me of someone I couldn't quite place. Darkness took hold, and I drifted away into sleep. _

I woke to someone shaking my shoulder.

"Kara, Kara! Wake up, please Kara, wake up!"

I groaned and opened my eyes, letting my gaze land on Barbara, who visibly relaxed at my consciousness.

"Oh thank god," she breathed. I brought one hand to my head while I propped myself up on the other. My eyes felt so tired, as if I had been watching the world championships of ping-pong.

"What happened?" I asked, my throat somehow in singing shape.

"Let's start with what you remember," Babs suggested gently, scooting in behind me as I sat up so that I had something to lean on. I was in an examination room, like at a hospital although this one appeared to have had a bomb explode in it.

"Um," I said, trying to focus; I could hear voices from outside the steel door, hundreds and hundreds of voices vying for attention. "I remember going to the gym…"

"And then what?" Babs encouraged, but my brain was already piecing it back together.

"Oh my god," I realized suddenly, "How long have I been out?"

"Only about ten minutes," Babs answered, "I couldn't see you for the first five because Hamilton insisted on checking the integrity of the room before letting me in."

"Babs, we've got to get back, we've got to go help the others."

"Kara, you've only just woken up!"

"And she should be in top-shape," Both of us whipped around to see Dr. Hamilton entering through another door, holding a strange container in the palm of his hand. "Try standing, Kara, I'm sure you can probably manage a supersonic flight by now." Despite Barbara's immediate protests, I pushed myself all the way up and stood; but Hamilton was right, that wasn't nearly enough. I could feel every inch of me vibrate in anticipation; I could go anywhere, do anything I dreamed of. I had no limits.

"The red kryptonite you were exposed to completely negated the effects of the green kryptonite in your system," Hamilton confirmed, "And the increased receptivity it caused encouraged your body to heal faster. The effects of the red kryptonite should have been effectively terminated when what was left of the green kryptonite was expelled, rather forcefully, I might add…"

"So I'm at full power?"

"You should be," he answered simply, "Although I could run some tests to be sure."

"There's no time for that," I cried, "We have to stop that clone before it destroys the city, and Wonder Woman and Wonder Girl with it!"

"Ah, yes, well," Hamilton shifted slightly. When I focused on him, I realized I could hear his heartbeat as it steadily increased. "Try this," he offered the container.

"What is it?" Barbara sounded justfully paranoid.

"A piece of green kryptonite," he answered, unable to look me in the eyes.

"What is S.T.A.R. Labs doing with something like that?" I could practically hear Barbara's eyes narrow.

"Look at it as a back up plan," Hamilton said, pushing the container to Barbara, "For instances like this." Even though I'm sure Barbara could have pressed the issue further, she bit her tongue and accepted the 'gift'. "Feel free to keep it," Hamilton added, still not looking at me, "Just in case." Babs nodded grimly and deposited the weapon into one of her larger pockets.

"Thank you, Dr. Hamilton, for saving me." I added, as we were leaving.

"Surprisingly, Kara, it wasn't nearly as difficult a choice as you might believe," he sighed, as if he wasn't completely satisfied that that was the case, "I don't think I could have let myself live with the guilt if I had turned you away."

"Why is that?" Babs almost snorted in disbelief.

"For the very same reason I gave you the kryptonite," he answered, "Because in situations like this, we need to have someone we can look up to. As much as I hate to admit it, sometimes, the world needs superheroes."

Babs and I looked at each other, and then back at the doctor, nodding in silent agreement, before we took off, soaring as fast as we could to Metropolis, and the crisis that lay within.

When we arrived at the city, the fighting had moved from where we had left it to the airspace of downtown. Now it took me nearly no effort to gaze through the buildings and find the clone bearing down on Diana as Cassie buzzed around them like a fly, trying her hardest to let her fury be known. I started to fly towards them, but Babs, of all people, stopped me.

"Wait," she said, "we've got to get you a new look."

"Seriously?" I asked, "We're gonna worry about this now?"

"Yes," Babs was completely serious, "A hero is only as good as her disguise, and in this case, the reporters watching will know who you are because of Clark. You made it clear that you don't want Lois to know that it's you fighting up there, so you need to make sure she won't recognize you."

"But how? We don't have time!"

"I have an idea," Babs grinned, and I had the distinct feeling that the table of our personalities and roles had suddenly turned. She took my wrist and pulled me towards the street vendors below, saying only, "Follow me."

Clark's P.O.V.

I set the last refugee on the deck of the Aircraft Carrier, and watched a crew member put an arm around her shoulders and guide her to safety. The monsoon had almost completely obliterated the small island, and it was bad enough that even though I had been standing by the whole week, I still hadn't been able to save these people's homes.

"Clark,"

I heard the barely audible whisper come from behind me, and I turned to find Batman readying his Bat plane for use.

"Anything I can help you with?" I asked, floating over to him.

"There appears to be a disturbance in Metropolis," he directed my attention to the small holographic projection he directed onto the deck.

"I'm here in downtown Metropolis, and above us is quite possibly the fight of the century." The camera pointed away from the anchor to the skies, where two figures grappled with each other, and a third tried desperately to make her presence known. I recognized Wonder Woman immediately, but I had no clue who the small blonde girl with her was, only taking comfort in the fact that it clearly wasn't Kara.

"Is that the former Batgirl?" I asked, only to see Bruce grimace.

"No, that's Wonder Girl, Wonder Woman's niece; she should be in Gotham, considering she's currently under my supervision."

"What's her name?" A thought had occurred to me, and I silently prayed that I wasn't right.

"Cassie, why?"

I groaned and pinched the bridge of my nose, "Kara brought Cassie with her to watch my place."

"…Woman and her associate appear to be fighting a version of Superman, May. Is this true?"

I immediately refocused on the image. They were right; somehow, Diana and Cassie were fighting a younger version of me. "How is that…?" Bruce asked, but before I could answer, a new blur soared through the image and sent the clone flying; she paused for a moment by Diana and Cassie, but left to pursue their opponent as another, red-headed ally appeared by them. In that moment, the world came crashing around me. Bruce muttered something that sounded like "Barbara," but I still had the image of the blur in my mind.

"Oh, Kara…"

"Superman!" I turned to the call of the soldier, although I was still in shock. "The locals say there's one more village further in land."

I nodded, and looked at Bruce. He tapped the button on his wrist and made the newscast disappear. "The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can join them."

I nodded, "Call in Flash and Aquaman to take over after this one. I don't want to leave these people completely." Bruce nodded and began radioing in orders. I took to the skies and set my course for the storm-ravaged island once more.

_Hold on a bit longer, Kara, I'll be there soon._

Kara's P.O.V.

Even though I was still certain our little detour had been a waste of time, part of me was happy I had let Babs pull me aside to settle a costume. Some entrepenuer, in their moment of insight, had created a much smaller, female replica of my cousin's suit, and Babs had somehow managed to find one in a deserted shop within five minutes. It was far more comfortable than I had originally imagined it would be, and although it was only a blue leotard and cape, I felt as powerful as Clark.

So when I had the clone in my sights, I launched myself at him with as much force as I could muster. He went flying out of Diana's grasp and skidded across the roof of a nearby building.

"Kara?" Diana could hardly believe her eyes, and I couldn't really blame her.

"Babs will explain," I excused quickly, and shot down to meet the recovering clone. He shook his head, and his desperate gaze focused on me. "Calm down, will you?" I tried, but the moment I opened my mouth, he let out another angry howl and ran at me, intent to tear me apart. My instincts took over, and I grabbed his wrist the minute it entered my bubble. The next moment, he was in the side of a building.

I really was stronger.

It wasn't enough to knock him out though, as a moment later, he was soaring back out of the building towards me. I ducked and grabbed his foot, managing to spin him around a few times before letting him go.

The plan, as Babs and I had discussed, was for me to try to tire him out and get him away from the city; in the three hours we had been gone, Diana and Cassie had done a pretty decent job of it, but I noticed that there was some damage aside from mine. If we allowed much more, lives could be in jeopardy. So this time, when I saw that he was at least momentarily dazed from his landing, I took the chance to fly at him. I locked my arms around his middle and kept on flying, determined to get him as far to the edge of the city as I could. When he regained his senses, however, he began pummeling my back with his fists; I may have been stronger now, but I could still feel his blows. I stopped my flight—we were still a few miles from the edge—and threw him down as hard as I could. He landed on the roof of a—thankfully!—empty car. I had hoped that the landing would daze him again, but he recovered faster this time; he stood up and immediately shot back up to hover directly in front of me.

I could see the open desert behind him; I had to get him there, but I couldn't keep throwing him into buildings. Clearly, he was just becoming more resilient. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw three figures zooming towards the desert. When I magnified them, I saw Cass pause and wave her arms, and her distant voice calling, "This way!"

Could it really be that easy?

I flew up to the clone, grabbed both his punches and locked eyes with him. The red in his eyes didn't look like blood anymore; I knew I had seen the red, but I couldn't think where. Instead of dwelling, I put on my challenge face.

"Race ya!" I cried, then threw him aside and shot out towards the desert, praying that my feint would work. Behind me, I heard a frustrated growl, and I felt the air rumble then watched him flash past me in a blur, aimed straight for the desert, where the others waited.

Another blur joined him; Cassie had taken up where I left off, luring him onward. When she fell far enough behind, Diana appeared, actually giving him a run for his money. I flew as fast as I could, catching up with Cass in no time. Diana had the clone out of the city, where Babs had to be hidden, ready and waiting to appear.

Once she was clear of people, Diana rolled midair to grab him in a bear hug and force him to slow. She let go once he was slow enough, allowing me to plow straight into him and send him straight into the ground.

You would think that being driven straight into the ground would at least cause someone a minute of recuperation before fighting back. Instead, I was thrown away immediately, and the clone shot back up into the air.

"Babs, get the damn kryptonite!" I yelled, shooting back towards him.

"If I get it out now, it'll hurt you too!"

Cassie got her lasso around him, but her electric shocks were nothing to him now. Diana caught him in hers as well, but he pulled them around easily. It was only when I pulled him into a hold that he was somewhat immobilized.

"I'll be fine!" I yelled, "Just hurry up and un-power him already!"

Barbara hovered in front of us, eyes filled with indecision.

"Babs, I can't hold him forever! Do it now, and we'll live with the consequences!"

Babs stared at me for what felt like an eternity in a second; then in one fluid movement, she held out the container, clicked the button, and looked away.

I felt it immediately, as did the clone. The red disappeared from his suddenly drooping eyes, and we both very nearly dropped out of the sky. Babs followed us, kryptonite out the whole time, as Diana and Cass lowered us to the ground. When we hit the ground, Cassie dropped her rope and pulled me out of the light, setting me aside while they tied the clone up. Once he was secure, Babs clicked the lid back into place, and the clone let out a tiny sigh of relief.

I stood up, shaky, and walked over to him. Now that he wasn't crazy and trying to kill us, I could see that his eyes were actually blue, like mine. His eyes focused exhaustedly on me, and then the logo on my chest.

"Hope," he whispered, looking back up to me, and smiling, actually _smiling_, before his eyes rolled back in his head, and he fell forward into my arms.

He knew; the same way I knew, he knew.

_You will not only have a new cousin, but a new ally_.

"We're taking him to Clark's," I decided, picking him up. All three of my companions looked at me as if I was crazy. "He needs to be in a safe place, and that is the only place I trust. C'mon," Without waiting for their answers, I lifted off, intent on getting home.


	10. Chapter 10: New Hopes

I had gallantly decided to give up my bed for 'Superboy'. The kryptonite poisoning must have really taken a toll on him because he managed to sleep through the ruckus Clark raised upon his return.

I was not expecting to see my cousin so soon, nor was I expecting him to be in such a state. Diana and Babs had just left for their hotel room, hoping to change into street clothes and get some take-out for the four of us; it was a pity really, because the moment I saw Clark land on the balcony, I knew he knew. He stormed into the apartment and found me immediately.

"Kara, what on earth were you thinking?" He started immediately, "I saw the damage that man caused, and how easily he was able to take on Wonder Woman. You could have been killed, especially in your state! How could you put yourself in that danger?"

"Good lord, would you let me speak?" I yelled, effectively shocking and silencing him. To my surprise, Batman swooped into the apartment behind Clark, and immediately pinned Cassie with a look. She stiffened, but kept up her proud bravado.

"Clark," I knew everyone else here knew, "I have quite a lot to tell you. For starters, you are half right; when I first started fighting him today, I was pummeled within an inch of my life; Cassie, as well as Diana and Babs," It was Bruce's turn to stiffen and look away, "Can vouch for that. Babs took me to S.T.A.R. Labs; Hamilton, evidently, had been working on a way to fix me, or just playing with Kryptonite, I'm not really sure, but in any case, he discovered the properties of Red Kryptonite."

Clark paled significantly and sat down on the couch, unable to stand; I accepted his silence and continued my story, "I'm not sure what exactly happened while I was out, but under Barbara's and the Doctor's supervision, I was exposed to Red Kryptonite, and it completely eliminated the prior kryptonite poisoning. I'm at full power now. I can't say for sure, but I could very well be able to hold my own against you now. It was only after that that we were able to take on the clone."

Bruce perked up, "What happened to him?"

My eyes flicked reflexively to my bedroom, and Bruce caught it immediately. "You didn't," he already knew the answer, probably, but his admonishment pulled Clark from his shock.

"It was the only safe place I could think of!" I defended, and jumped in front of Clark as he tried to get to my bedroom door.

"Get out of the way, Kara; this is bigger than you." I was thoroughly shocked by the cold, completely removed tone Clark had suddenly adopted.

"You're wrong," I retorted, pushing him away, "It is all about me, and you for that matter. I have one more story for you. Sit down." I pointed to the couch. When Clark gave me a look telling me clearly that he wasn't amused, I pointed again and added, "Go on, before I have to put you there myself. Same goes for you Bats." It was Bruce, however, who put a hand on Clark's shoulder, silently encouraging him to listen to me. Once they were seated, I began my speech.

"When I was knocked out, I had a dream, of sorts. It confirmed that I am Kara Zor-El, cousin to Kal-El," Clark's shock encouraged me to keep going. "It became clear to me that we are the last Kryptonians; the final voices of a planet lost to time. But the dream opened another thought to me: it told me to put forth my effort to healing and helping this 'clone,' because by the end of it, I would have not only another ally, but another member of a lost family."

"Kara, he's clearly a clone; that doesn't make him Kryptonian," Bruce tried to argue, although it seemed as though he wished he didn't have to make that argument.

"I thought that as well, at first," I agreed, then turned my gaze to Clark, "Until the fight was done. When I kneeled in front of him, to make sure that he was completely pacified, he looked at me, and then at this," I pointed to my shield, "And then he blew my mind, with one word. The same word I said when I saw your shield for the first time after my surgery."

Clark looked up at me; as my insinuation settled in, he looked completely and thoroughly amazed.

"Hope," he whispered.

"Yes," I said, "He knows what we stand for, in every sense of the word." I moved to kneel in front of Clark, and I took his hand, "It doesn't matter where or who he came from: the boy that is currently sleeping in my bedroom is Kryptonian, just like you and me."

"But, but he's a clone of me," Clark stammered.

"He doesn't have your soul," I smiled, "Just because he looks like you doesn't for one moment mean that he is. When you see his eyes, you'll know," I stood up and gently pulled Clark up as well. He was shaking; my news was too much for him. I led him, and by extension, Bruce, to my bedroom, and opened the door to reveal the sleeping teenager.

"He isn't a threat to us Clark, he is _one_ of us."

Clark stumbled forward, bumping into my dresser as he did. 'Superboy' stirred, and his eyes blinked open to focus on Clark. The two held their mutual gaze for a long moment, before the clone stood up to stand before Clark. 'Superboy' was much shorter than my cousin, and now that they were next to each other, Clark looked more like an older brother than the original copy. Their noses were slightly different, and the clone's sky blue eyes weren't at all like Clark's steel gray. After a moment of sizing each other up, Clark extended a hand to the clone. It was clear that the clone was surprised by the gesture, but after a tense moment, he carefully took Clark's hand and met Clark's slight smile.

"My name is Kal-El, but you can call me Clark."

The clone frowned slightly, taking in the information, before he admitted, "The only name I know is K-One-Three. That is what they referred to me as."

"Who?" Bruce asked, clearly interested.

"The…" The boy trailed off, "I'm not sure; my memories are…confusing."

"Don't worry," Cassie came forward, "I know that feeling. But you're lucky enough to come into a family, like I did. We'll get you figured out, just wait,"

She put a hand on his shoulder; he looked at the hand, and then focused on Cassie.

"You're the one who shocked me,"

"Wha…?" Cassie wasn't expecting that, "Yea, that was my lasso; sorry, but you were attacking us."

"That's ok, it's the only thing you did that I felt." He delivered the line with a completely straight face—I don't know if he knew what humor was—and Cassie's shock quickly became hurt pride.

"What?! How—yea well we still beat you!"

"At which time I believe she," he nodded to me, "was the one who actually had me in a hold, while you were using your…um, 'lasso' I think you called it?"

Cassie was about to go off on him; probably in a speech about how he was lucky she wasn't a full grown Amazon, but I cut her off. "C'mon Cass," I said, gently prying her hand from his shoulder and guiding her away, "Superboy here has had quite a day. He deserves a good rest."

"Indeed," Bruce agreed suddenly, "I believe the two of you were to drive back tomorrow, correct?"

"Yea, Clark's supposed to drive us," I confirmed.

"Good," he turned to address the boy head on, "Get a good night's rest tonight; you'll drive back with them tomorrow, and you can stay in the cave for the time being. As Cassie suggested, we'll help you figure everything out."

Even though Bruce didn't break his no-nonsense tone once, his offer surprised me somewhat. I realized a moment later that it shouldn't have; Bruce was going to study the clone while he was in the Cave. I wanted to call him out, but, as much as I hated to admit it, Bruce probably had the right idea. I had experienced everything K13 was capable of, and someone had to make sure that it didn't happen again, unless he was on our side when it happened.

"Thank you," Superboy bowed his head slightly, "I am quite tired,"

"Rest well," Clark said, "Once we've got some things established, I know there are two people who would quite like to meet you."

With the prospects of such a bright future in front of him, it was no surprise that the smile on K13's face was one of the happiest I had ever seen.

The next morning came like a dream.

I woke up from my sleep-obtained position between a sprawled out Cassie and Barbara. Diana was still snoring softly on the couch, and I could hear both Clark and K13's gentle breathing from their respective rooms. I carefully lifted Cassie and Babs off me and floated quietly toward the kitchen. As I passed the guest bedroom, however, I heard the slightest shift, and a slight hitch in K13's heart rate and breathing pattern. Immediately curious, I turned my x-ray vision towards his door.

K13 was lying in bed, straight as a board, but his eyes were open and staring at the ceiling. I watched him stiffen, and his eyes flick toward me.

_"I know you're watching,"_ he whispered so breathlessly I actually had to strain a bit to hear him, _"You could just come in." _

I floated to his door and opened it quietly, then shut it quietly, to decrease our chances of being interrupted.

"I'm not completely used to peering in on people," I whispered, sheepish after being caught so easily, "I only recently received my abilities."

"But you're a krypton," K13 seemed confused.

"But I was raised as a human. I had severe kryptonite poisoning that prevented me from even recognizing my heritage until almost a year ago. And even then, I couldn't reach my full potential until after I fought you for the first time."

I watched his face fall in what appeared to be guilt, "Yes, I remember…" He trailed off, and looked at his hands, "I am sorry about that. I could not fight it when he introduced it to me. But once he had, well, I suppose that just means that he didn't know what would happen."

"Who?" I put a hand on K13's shoulder, "And what?"

"The man who created me, he is the only face I knew." K13 looked at me, "He was using me to test the effects of kryptonite; just before I broke free and came here, he introduced me to red kryptonite."

That was it: that was the red I saw in his eyes! His eyes were the color of red kryptonite.

"K," I spoke as calmly as I could, "Did you ever hear the man's name?"

"I don't think I ever…no," he paused suddenly, "Once, they said it once, when someone else came in to call him away. They called him Doctor."

"Did he have a last name?"

K13's eyebrows knit together in confusion. "What is a 'last name'?"

I bit back my sigh; of course he wouldn't know, there was still so much to teach him. "A last name is a family name, one shared by a members of a family. Traditionally, when women marry men, they take their husband's last name."

"What is your last name?"

"Kent," I smiled, "Although my Kryptonian last name is Zor-El."

"But Clark's kryptonian name is only Kal-El?"

I smiled, "We both belong to the House of El, or the family of El."

K13 nodded, clearly processing the information, then looked back at me, "Where do I belong?"

My heart skipped a beat. But as soon as I worried about my answer, I realized it was immediately before me.

"With us; you are as much a member of the house of El as I am."

"So I am K-One-Three-El?"

"Not if you don't want to be."

"But that is my name, is it not?" The poor boy was so confused. I took his hand in mine and gave it a slight squeeze.

"Look, you were given the name K-One-Three as a classifier; it doesn't truly define you. In the next few months, with Bruce's help, you'll be figuring out exactly who you are. Part of that process, hell, maybe even the start of that process will mean finding a name that fits you, and one that is hopefully slightly easier to say than K-One-Three."

Despite my hope at a humorous close, K13's eyes were still furrowed in deep thought.

"Do you have some paper and a writing utensil?"

"Um, sure," I pulled out one of the journals I kept in my room, just in case, "Here, it should be blank."

K13 took the journal and the pen, flipped open to the first page, and wrote out, in neat block letters "K-O-N-E-T-H-R-E-E." Once the final 'E' was complete, he stared at the paper. I waited, thoroughly confused, as five of the longest minutes of my life passed. As he stared, K13 began to slowly twist his head one way, and then the other, before, finally, he drew two lines down from the first 'E' and 'T' and wrote the letters 'E' and 'L' below.

"That is how you spell 'El', yes?"

"Um, yes," I said, surprised that he had found a connection.

K13 nodded, then drew lines down from the 'K', 'O', and 'N' and wrote the letters down directly, leaving the word KONEL.

"Konel?" I asked.

"No," he answered, confused at my misinterpretation; he looked back, then nodded to himself, and transcribed the letters again, only slightly differently: Kon-El.

A shiver ran down my spine, and I whispered the name.

"Does it work?" He asked, as if he was a puppy waiting for affection.

"It's perfect," I answered, "It's a perfect Kryptonian name."

His face lifted for a moment then it fell back into deep thought. "I will need an Earth name as well." It was a statement, no trace of question.

"How about Conner?" I suggested, "It sounds pretty close to Kon-El."

"Conner?" He repeated, as if tasting it, before he presented me with the book, "How do you spell it?"

I carefully wrote the name below "Kon-El," and handed the book back.

"Conner," he said again, still testing the name on his tongue, "Conner…" He trailed into silence, still quietly repeating the names before him. A moment later, he looked up at me, with a soft smile. "I like them. I want to be Conner."

I felt a smile spread across my face.

"Welcome to the family, Conner Kent."

A few hours later, after everyone had awoken to the new day, we divided our duties accordingly. True to yesterday's plans, Clark would be driving me, Cassie and Conner back to Gotham, where he would deposit Cassie and Conner at Wayne Manor, and me at my house. Diana and Babs would stay in Metropolis for the rest of the day, ensuring the safety of the citizens until Clark returned. Apparently they would be off to Hong Kong next.

I hated having to say goodbye to my best friend again. We stood in front of each other, mentally reliving the huge revelations of the past week, taking in all that had changed even though, really, nothing did.

"Still think this trip is good for me?" she asked, only half joking.

I sighed and crossed my arms, "Given what you were escaping, and what you've become, yes, I guess it is good for you. Just," I let my arms drop, and I felt myself actually showing a weakness, "Don't forget to come back one day, ok?"

She smiled tearfully and pulled me into a hug. "Don't worry, I'm one year down, two more to go. I'll be back for senior year, and you can fully educate me in the ways of high school."

I laughed in spite of myself, and punched her as lightly on the shoulder as I could, although I still saw her wince slightly.

"Have fun, Babs."

"You too, Kara," she smiled, "And keep an eye on Cassie. I don't think Conner fully understands the premise of 'teasing' yet, but I'm pretty sure he enjoys getting her worked up."

"I wouldn't worry too much, I'm sure he can handle himself."

"Well yea," she laughed, "But, I don't know, think about it," she looked over to where Conner was holding a very frustrated Cassie back by her forehead. "He doesn't know how to act in society. He may know how to speak fluently, but he doesn't actually know things, you know?"

As vague as the comment was, I understood her implication. I looked over to where Cassie was trying her damnedest to lift Conner up. I thought about the naming session I had with him this morning.

"Yea," I said, "I know what you mean. Clark and I have so much to teach him."

Babs turned back to smile at me. "So basically, you and Cassie are gonna be teaching him how to be a teenager."

"Oh lord," I laughed, "That poor boy."

Two and a half hours later, after the prolonged goodbyes, and the long road trip that served to introduce Conner to pop music and establish that he had another ground with which to tease Cassie, we finally arrived at Wayne Manor. Alfred, Bruce, and Dick came out to greet us, and I was amazed at how much of a difference lay between Bruce-Bruce and Bruce-Batman. Dick, I realized, only had the mask to disguise him.

"K-One-Three," Bruce, started, extending his hand.

"Conner," Conner reintroduced himself with a smile as he took Bruce's hand, "or Kon-El." Bruce nodded his approval, and turned to introduce the others, "This is Alfred Pennyworth, my butler, doctor, and overall caretaker,"

"Pleasure to meet you, Master Conner," Alfred bowed slightly.

"And this is my ward," He said, placing a hand on Dick's shoulder, "Richard Grayson."

"You can call me Dick," he smirked, "It'll be nice to have another teenager in the house for a change."

"And what do you call me?" Cassie grumbled, throwing her duffel over her shoulder.

"A headache," Dick mumbled under his breath, before he turned to me. Alfred, Clark and Bruce were showing Conner into the manor, leaving the two of us alone for a moment. "I heard you saw an old partner of mine," He said, leaving the implications open for me to follow.

"She isn't ready yet," I answered, cursing myself for not guessing he would do this, "If you were to try anything right now, I'm pretty sure it would break her."

"How am I supposed to tell her I'm sorry if everyone is telling me to just leave her alone? There are so many things I need to say to her!"

I shook my head; Barbara's mental health was more important to me than his need for redemption, but that didn't mean I didn't feel bad for him. "I'm sorry, bird-boy, but those things will have to wait until she's ready to hear them. Whether that's this year, next year, or even ten years from now—you have to understand a teenage girl. We're going through just as much inner turmoil as you are, and hearing hurtful words at this time can completely alter who we become."

"But I didn't mean what I said, she's got to know that,"

"That's the funny thing about words," I said, "They have a way of affecting us, whether they were supposed to or not, and vice versa."

"So no matter what I say from this point on, the only way that I can expect to fix it depends entirely on how Babs receives me when she gets back."

"Yep,"

Dick let out a frustrated growl and brought his hands up to his head, as if he had a headache. "I was such an idiot to let her go."

"See," I said brightly, "You're learning!" When all that did was earn me a probably well-deserved glare, I shrugged, "Then look at it this way, Boy Wonder; she's using this trip to establish herself. She's building her own identity, becoming something other than the female version of the bat."

He paused for a moment, taking in the new perspective.

"That is easier to accept," he conceded, "But only slightly."

"As long as it leads you to the conclusion that she needs this trip, that's what matters."

Apparently, they had already finished the tour of the mansion, as the tour group, minus Cassie had returned to the front door. Clark was shaking Bruce's hand, before he turned to Conner. I trained my ears in to hear, "Once you're settled here, I have some people I think would be happy to meet you. Also, as your 'brother' of sorts, I expect you to try your hardest in everything you do."

Conner smiled, clearly happy with the turn of events, "Thank you, Clark. I look forward to it." I floated over to Conner and gave him a hug.

"I'm only a phone call away, just remember that," I said, "If you need anything, I'll be here."

"Thank you, Kara," Conner's sincerity was a little heart-wrenching, in a way, "For giving me a chance."

"I only gave you what you deserve, Conner. You're a part of our family, now and forever. Now," I said, giving his hand a squeeze, "have fun, I'm sure you'll fit right in here."

"It appears you think I fit in anywhere here," he observed.

"You see, both this manor and Clark's apartment in Metropolis are places for people like us. It's where the misfits go to be superheroes."

Even Bruce smiled at that.

A few minutes later, Clark and I were on our way back to my house.

"So," I said, because this was the first time we had alone to talk since the events of yesterday, "all of the green kryptonite is gone now."

"I noticed," Clark agreed, but he didn't say any more.

"So…do you think you would reconsider me being Supergirl?"

Clark sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't know, Kara: it's dangerous out there."

"C'mon Clark! I survived an encounter with a Kryptonian on steroids! I'm at full power! At least give it a chance."

Clark was silent for a moment, before he sighed and relented, "Ok, ok, but only on weekends, and I don't want to hear that your schoolwork is hurt in anyway, or it stops immediately."

I could have literally flown through the roof. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders, and cheered, thanking him over and over again.

"One more thing," he said, "Are you really intending on only wearing that leotard? It seems somewhat skimpy."

Before I argued against his point, a thought occurred to me.

"I have a feeling that will be a back up," I finally answered, "But there are so many ways to wear a girl version of your costume, Cuz, I'll have a lot to try before I finally decide."

"As long as they cover an adequate amount of skin, I can work with that. I don't need you flying around Metropolis or Gotham half-naked."

I laughed and punched his shoulder.

Suddenly, life seemed so much brighter.


	11. Chapter 11: Epilogue

Epilogue

Dr. Hamilton carefully checked his appearance in the small mirror he kept in his office. It was important to look his best, to put forward the best opinion he could manage. At best, he would come off as the kind, fatherly sort of man. He needed the influence that position could give.

He walked down the hall from his office, pulled out a key ring and carefully selected the one that had a faint green glow. A key crafted from kryptonite, who would have guessed it was possible? The sheer amount of kryptonite collected from the site of what he now knew to be Kara's spaceship gave him enough leeway to commission a key and lock system for the holding cell for his latest subject. He felt the tumbler of the lock shift with a satisfying click as he opened the door.

Sitting on the bed in front of him, with a happy expression, was a mirror image of Kara, although this woman was dressed in blue scrubs, like a patient in a hospital. Her entire body seemed to shake, as if she was an excited puppy.

"Hello Doctor Hamilton!" her enthusiasm was contagious.

"Hello, Karen!" The good doctor returned, pulling a chair up to sit directly opposite her, "How are we feeling this morning?"

"Just wonderful! More than ready for training!" She reported it with the eagerness of a dutifully brainwashed soldier. Doctor Hamilton smiled to himself as he checked her vitals; ever since she had somehow appeared in the room beside Kara after the procedure, he had kept a careful eye on her development. Months had passed, and with every 'Lois Lane Exclusive' interview, 'Supergirl' grew in popularity; but with every conquest of Kara's, Karen had grown, demonstrating strength that beat even Superman's record highs.

Yet Karen held a need, an absolute thirst for blood that Dr. Hamilton had never seen before. She wanted nothing more than to fight, pillage, and destroy everything—a desire Hamilton had, thankfully, caught early; instead of eliminating it, however, he nurtured it, teaching her how to channel and control the bloodthirst into the destruction of objects he called for. She followed his word to the letter, eager to please the man who allowed her to destroy so freely.

As Dr. Hamilton led her to the training chamber for another long day of training, he felt his heart soar at the thought that he finally had the weapon he, and Project Cadmus had searched for, for so long.

Karen was his key to finally ridding the world of Superman.

Kara's P.O.V.

I remember the dream clearly, despite how strange it was. I was floating above Metropolis, admiring the deep violet sky, and pinkish-green buildings when I heard someone call my name. I flew through the city, trying to find the person who had summoned me, when I was somehow pulled to the Daily Planet.

Standing on the center of the roof, where I had given my interview to Lois just months earlier, with Clark by my side, stood the boy from my memories. He had messy ginger hair and a thick layer of freckles covering his cheeks. Clark had told me later that his name was Jimmy, and that he was the nephew and errand boy of Perry. He was actually considered a close friend of Superman, although Jimmy evidently hadn't figured out the connection between his Uncle's coworker and the Man of Steel as Lois had.

"Jimmy?" I asked when I landed, "Did you call me?"

He looked down, as if surprised that I called him Jimmy. "Oh, would you look at that," he seemed to be talking to himself, "That's interesting. Anyway," he shook his head and looked at me. Something had changed, his eyes were purple. "I came to tell you, be ready."

"Ready?" I crossed my arms, "For what?"

"I can't tell you yet," he said; his voice seemed different too, as if it didn't fully fit his body. It wasn't the voice I remembered. "But you need a warning. If you aren't vigilant, it will be worse for you."

"Ok," I said slowly; he was seriously freaking me out.

"Look," he cut to the point, aware of my skepticism, "It will be called the Pandora Principle."

I felt a cold wind blow over me, punctuating his words.

"What is that?"

"You'll find out here soon, in the coming years. Once you figure it out, you'll understand the implications. But for now, grasp this: Conner was supposed to be a weapon against you. You took the weapon away from them and left a void."

"So, isn't that a good thing?"

'Jimmy' shook his head, although he was still smiling, "No, you left a void, Kara. Once you know the Principle, you'll understand."

"Why can't you just tell me?" I was inches away from pummeling this boy.

"Because," his image started to blink, shifting into someone else; his red hair became blond, and his pale freckled skin became green. "That would be breaking the rules."

"Who are you?" I found myself stepping forward, instead of running away the way a strong part of me was encouraging me.

"Someone from your future. Don't worry," he smiled and huge cracks suddenly ran through the scene around me, causing everything, including me, to fall away. I looked back up to where he remained standing on nothing, and his words echoed around me.

"You'll see."

_*The End…almost*_

_Thank you so much for reading my story!_

_As I said at the beginning, this story is only part of a multi-story series, which started with my other work, _Memoirs of a Batgirl_. If you were at all intrigued by the ending of this story, I highly suggest you read the other Memoir, and look for the next installment, _Memoirs of a Wondergirl_, which will focus on the other character featured in this story, Cassie Sandsmark. I sincerely hope you read _Batgirl_ and _Wondergirl_, as I am dedicated to getting this story out. It has quite the future ahead of it (as this ending might have suggested), and there are still many chapters to come until it is finally completed. _

_I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it!_

_Thanks again!_

_Rubelle_


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